Explaining the Politics of Recognition of Ethnic Diversity and Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Oaxaca, Mexico (original) (raw)

2004, Bulletin of Latin American Research

A 'politics of recognition'-a process of political reform intended to recognise formally cultural diversity and indigenous peoples' rights-has developed in Mexico, both at the federal and at the state levels, since the early 1990s. The case of the state of Oaxaca stands out in this respect-the local constitution and nearly a dozen secondary laws were reformed during the 1990s, resulting in the conformation of the most comprehensive multicultural framework in Mexico. In this article, I attempt to explain the emergence and the particular development of Oaxaca's unique politics of recognition. Following an explanatory framework proposed by Donna Lee Van Cott, I conclude that the recognition agenda emerged in Oaxaca as legitimacy and governability was put under strain. In addition, I conclude that the (by Mexican standards) rapid and broad fashion in which it developed can be explained on the bases of the severity of the threats to governability and of the capacity of indigenous actors to influence the decision-making process and form alliances with key political actors-i.e. the state governors. Keywords: autonomy, governability, indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, indigenous peoples' rights, legitimacy, politics of recognition. Until quite recently, the political elite of Latin American countries-Mexico includedregarded cultural and ethnic diversity as a problem, as the main obstacle to the nation-state's consolidation. Throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, they strove to eliminate diversity and forge culturally homogenous societies (Díaz Polanco, 1991). 1 However since the early 1980s, these homogenising tendencies began to be challenged by the indigenous population and questioned in diverse social and political sectors. 2 The 1 The consideration of diversity as a problem for state-building and the resulting homogenisation are not unique to Latin America, but to the modern state which has aspired to found itself 'on a single set of constitutional principles and exhibit a singular and unambiguous identity' (Parekh, 2000: 181-185). 2 The homogenisation paradigm has been challenged around the world. The debates around recognition of cultural diversity are central in many countries (