Deep Politics: Community Adaptations to Political Clientelism in Twenty-First-Century Mexico

Abstract: The specifi c contribution of this study is to explore how a communitarian lifeworld prepares the ground for practices of political clientelism without requiring the “foundational favor” noted in other contexts. Based on the encounter between ethnographies from two different communities of the Mesoamerican tradition in Mexico, the article argues that this lifeworld is forged by the habitual ways in which most collective tasks are carried out, that is, by forming and participating in networks. First, we offer a concrete description of the operation of two problem-solving networks of political clientelism in these communities. These networks are considered legitimate since they appear to be part of the communitarian practices. Second, we observe that the state often fails to reach out to the citizens with many social benefi ts, and we maintain that the problemsolving networks bridge the gap between the citizens and the state. Third, we argue that the ethnographic approach has been of paramount importance in reaching these fi ndings, which are hardly attainable without this method. We consider that the workings of the clientelist networks represent a deep expression of people’s communitarian lifeworlds.Resumen: El presente trabajo explora cómo el denominado mundo de vida comunitario facilita las prácticas de clientelismo político sin la necesidad de un “favor inicial”, como se ha documentado en otros contextos. Con base en dos etnografías realizadas en diferentes comunidades mexicanas de tradición mesoamericana, argumentamos que el mundo de vida comunitario se construye a través de las formas habituales en las que la mayoría de tareas colectivas son llevadas a cabo por los sujetos: estableciendo y participando en redes. Primero, ofrecemos una descripción pormenorizada del funcionamiento en esas comunidades de dos redes clientelares solucionadoras de problemas. De hecho, estas redes se tienen como legítimas debido a que la población las considera parte de sus prácticas comunitarias. Segundo, observamos que el Estado muchas veces falla a la hora de cubrir las necesidades de los ciudadanos en cuanto a servicios sociales se refiere, y es en esos vacíos que las redes solucionadoras de problemas pueden tender puentes entre ciudadanos y estado. Tercero, argumentamos que la metodología etnográfica ha sido decisiva para alcanzar estos resultados, de manera que ello no hubiera sido posible sin estas herramientas metodológicas. Finalmente, consideramos que el funcionamiento de las redes clientelares es una representación profunda de los mundos de vida comunitarios

Propuesta intercultural iberoamericana para el estudio de la participación política a nivel local

The article tries to present a theoretical model about a comparative study of political-electoral behavior of Spanish and Mexican citizens. There are considerably substantial differences of conduct on both political systems, so the author has been looked a concept that includes and recognizes all kinds of political interactions on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean: the political participation. About that, the fundamental aim of this research is to generate an “anthropology of the political participation”. In such a way of that, over the fieldworks in four Iberoamerican villages (two in Spain –Nava del Rey, Valladolid; Valle de Trápaga, Vizcaya- and two inMexico –Xico, Veracruz; Jiquilpan de Juárez, Michoacán), the author offers an intercultural proposal to analyze the political participation in local level, taking care on the social andeconomic conditions of the citizens.El artículo que presentamos propone un modelo teórico para el estudio comparado del comportamiento político-electoral de ciudadanos españoles y mexicanos. Siendo considerablemente sustanciales las diferencias en sus conductas en ambos sistemas políticos –sobre todo en fenómenos como el clientelismo-, se ha buscado un concepto que pueda abarcar y reconocer todo tipo de interacciones políticas a ambos lados del Atlántico: la participación política. En este sentido, el objetivo fundamental de la investigación es generar una “antropología de la participación política”, de tal manera que a partir de los trabajos de campo realizados en cuatro municipios iberoamericanos (dos españoles –Nava del Rey, Valladolid; Valle de Trápaga, Vizcaya– y dos mexicanos –Xico, Veracruz; Jiquilpan de Juárez,Michoacán–), generar una propuesta intercultural para el análisis de la participación política a nivel local teniendo en cuenta las condiciones socioeconómicas de los ciudadanos

Experiences of Social Fragmentation in Mexico: School, Work, Consumption and Space

Resumen: Se propone reflexionar, a partir de las experiencias (formativas, laborales, de consumo, socio-espaciales) de los jóvenes, sobre la idea de la fragmentación social que caracterizaría las sociedades latinoamericanas y, específicamente, México: ¿cómo se vive en y con la desigualdad socioeconómica? Las sociedades fragmentadas serían definidas como sistemas societales de exclusiones recíprocas e inclusiones desiguales. La tolerancia, rechazo o padecimiento de la desigualdad es posible, entre otros factores, a la coexistencia de mundos aislados y distantes dentro de una misma sociedad. Concretamente, la fragmentación social se traduciría en espacios de inclusión diferenciada y desigual, que coexisten y se repelen mutuamente, sin un espacio intermedio de amortiguación. Se proponen cuatro dimensiones de la vida social en las cuales se podría evidenciar la existencia de dos mundos paralelos que no se mezclan: el sistema de enseñanza, el mercado de trabajo, las prácticas de consumo y el territorio (ciudad / campo).Abstract: Among the experiences (school, work, consumption and space) of the young people, the author analyses the idea of social fragmentation, which would characterize Latin American societies and, specifically, Mexico: How can we live in and with social inequality? Fragmented societies would be defined as societal systems of reciprocal exclusions and unequal inclusions. Among other factors, tolerance, rejection or suffering of inequality is possible to the coexistence of isolated and distant worlds within the same society. Specifically, social fragmentation would result in spaces of differentiated and unequal inclusion, which coexist and repel each other, without an intermediate space for buffering. Four dimensions of social life are proposed in which the existence of two parallel worlds that do not mix can be evidenced: the education system, the labor market, the consumption practices and the space

Community projects in the era of globalization: The case of a local rural society in Mexico

This paper is a proposal for an anthropological analysis of the cargo system in Mexico, including both indigenous and non-indigenous communities. From the understanding of the cargo system as an essentially heterogeneous institution, this paper suggest as its main hypothesis that this institution is the origin of other mechanisms in the interaction of the members of the communities. First, the community institutions promote the participation of the largest number of people. Second, interactions? scenes are constantly created and recreated by the community members. Third, the roles? rotation, as a product of a tacit agreement into community members, is fundamental in assuring social participation. The proposal is structured in three parts: the composition of the cargo system as a continuum that explains the differences between individual and collective behaviour; the idea of community as a fundamental concept in understanding the cargo system;as a conclusion; the idea of a communitarian project becomes the common characteristic of all the communities (native or non-native) in the Mesoamerican area

The Performativity of State Non-Recognition in Sports: The Case of Spain over Kosovo

This article focuses on the use of sport by the Spanish Government to perform its non-recognition of Kosovo's statehood. Our main goal is to analyse the practices and narratives through which Spain's public authorities have carried out this policy in the sporting arena. Likewise, we set two specific objectives: to examine the administrative measures adopted by the Spanish government when a Kosovan team has participated in an event hosted in Spain; and to describe the policies and discourses regarding the display of Kosovo's national symbols in these competitions. The study is based on a qualitative approach of five major tournaments that have taken place (or due to) in Spain between 2018 and 2019. The documentation has been mainly gathered through desk-research. The three major data sources have been media press releases, Spanish Government's communiqués and sporting federation's statements. We underline that the policies adopted by the Spanish authorities respond to a systematic strategy to give no room for a potential understanding of Kosovo as a sovereign state. Likewise, we highlight that Madrid's attitude towards the Balkan country must be understood keeping in mind its own internal politics, specifically the nationalist claims from Catalonia and the Basque Country

Narrativas de club androcéntricas en el fútbol español: cobertura de prensa de los equipos de hombres y mujeres del Athletic Bilbao

This research focuses on the androcentric hierarchy of identity narratives in football. We explore how such discourses are planned in terms of gender at The club level. We enquire into the presence of and the role played by women footballers in the narrative construction of clubs as portrayed in media outlets. Our case study focuses on Athletic Bilbao, a pioneering club in women?s football in Spain. The methodology used is based on content analysis, covering three full seasons (2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21) of the front pages of four newspapers (As, Mundo Deportivo, El Correo and Deia). We found a sexist relational system with two major categories ? sequential and normative ? in the construction and reproduction of information. We point out the prevalence of sporting narratives focused on men and, in relational terms, the invisibility and, in a best-case scenario, the peripheralization of information about women.proioEsta investigación se centra en la jerarquización androcéntrica de las narrativas identitarias en el fútbol. Se explora cómo se planifican tales discursos en clave de género y a nivel de club. Se indaga sobre la presencia y el rol que desempeñan las jugadoras en la construcción narrativa de los clubes mediante los medios de comunicación. Nuestro caso de estudio es el Athletic Bilbao, un club pionero en el desarrollo del fútbol femenino en España. Metodológicamente, se realiza un análisis de contenido de las portadas de cuatro periódicos (As, Mundo Deportivo, El Correo, Deia) durante tres temporadas completas (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21). Se registra un sistema relacional sexista con dos grandes categorías, secuencial y normativa, en la construcción y reproducción informativa. Se subraya la omnipresencia de las narrativas alrededor de las prácticas masculinas. En términos relacionales, se invisibiliza y, en el mejor de los casos, se periferiza la información sobre las mujeres

The Migration of Skilled Women: A Case Study in the United

Abstract: This article concerns the case of Spanish women with higher education and their migration to the United Kingdom between 2009 and 2012. Based on an analysis of available statistical data and qualitative research (participant observation and 12 in-depth interviews), we explore the work and living conditions of migrant women. The results indicate: 1) that the number of migrants during the crisis is lower than previously thought and that, according to the available data, it cannot be classed as skilled migration; 2) similarly, that the socio-demographic profile is heterogeneous and, 3) that there are diverse economic conditions upon entry, often resulting in situations of vulnerability and social exclusion

People as agents of the neoliberal project: A longitudinal study of school to work transitions in Spain

Abstract:The main purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse some of the processes through which people acquire labour dispositions working for the neoliberal project promotion in a natural and legitimate way. The authors believe that the transitions from school to work provide an ideal opportunity to study such processes. The research took place in the Spanish village of Colindres from 2013 to 2015. We developed the investigation through an anthropological methodolo gy and used different tools as longitudinal interviews and ethnographic fieldwork. In this way, we selected high school students who share significant features related to their family origins and formative period. The authors conclude by discussing how the salaried classes impose upon themselves those labour mechanics and techniques applied by advocates of neoliberal policies: job insecurity, salary precariousness, labour mobility, time flexibility, and job rotation. In this case, we have found that family, peer group and close community in Colindres establish a framework in which young people naturally learn how to face up to their precarious labour experiences without conflict. Finally, the labour marketplace obtains what it needs: an adult who makes his own free decisions as a precarious worker and a low-level consumer

Singularidades de un sistema de gobierno indígena del norte de México. El carácter interétnico y etnojerarquizado del sistema de cargos ódami

This paper becomes part of native’s anthropologic studies in Sierra Tarahumara, one of the bigger areas of North Mexico. Concretely, the authors talk about two of the most important singular characteristics of the Odami government system. Those characteristics are particularly different of the Mesoamerican ones, which have profusely been described in the ethnographic literature. First of all, the authors expose the very singular Odami territoriality. The main characteristic of this kind of phenomenon is that the community is divided in two halves: the «abajeños» and the «arribeños». This division transforms the Odami government system organization. Secondly, the authors emphasize the inter-ethnic end ethnohierarchized Odami organization, in the way of a native people –the Raramuri– is clearly subordinate to the government hierarchy of another native people –the Odami–.El presente texto se ubica dentro de los estudios antropológicos de los pueblos indígenas de la Sierra Tarahumara en el norte de México. Caracterizamos concretamente dos de las singularidades más importantes del sistema de gobierno de los ódami, las cuales consideramos distinguen tal sistema de muchos otros que han sido descritos profusamente en la literatura etnográfica, principalmente entre pueblos de tradición mesoamericana. En particular, señalamos por un lado la muy particular territorialidad ódami, con una división de la comunidad en dos mitades (los abajeños y los arribeños), división que incide directamente en el sistema de gobierno; y por el otro, destacamos el carácter interétnico y etnojerarquizado del sistema de gobierno, de tal manera que ciertas comunidades indígenas rarámuri, reconocen abiertamente su subordinación ante los principales cargos del gobierno de otro pueblo étnicamente distinto –los ódami–

Discourses and practices of Buen convivir in a post-violence backdrop in Michoacán (Mexico)

Resumen: El objetivo principal del artículo es analizar el complejo proceso a través del cual el paradigma del Buen Convivir cobra significado en el contexto de post-violencia en Tancítaro, Michoacán, México. A nivel metodológico, utilizamos información registrada en campo durante los años 2016 y 2017, tanto del análisis de contenido en varios documentos públicos, como de la observación y las entrevistas en profundidad realizadas. A modo de conclusión, los autores señalamos el Buen Vivir como una construcción social. Y esto significa exacta mente que su conceptualización ha de estar sujeta a las circunstancias sociales e históricas de cada contexto local.Abstract: The main objective of the article is to analyze the complex process through which the Buen Convivir paradigm is able to acquire meaning despite the backdrop of post-violence in Tancítaro, Michoacán, Mexico. At the methodological level, information recorded in the field throughout 2016 and 2017 has been applied, including content analysis on various public documents, observations, and in-depth interviews which were conducted. By way of conclusion, the authors point out Buen Vivir as a social construction. And this means that its conceptualization must be subject to the social and historical circumstances of each local context