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Contemporay Social Movements in Mexico
Social Movements 1768-2018, 2020
Guerrero has a history of poverty and repression, but also of resistance, where the students and teachers of Ayotzinapa have been in the forefront. The Ayotzinapa movement draws on the history of the teachers’ colleges, which have existed in the state since the 1920s. These colleges were founded by Minister of Public Education José Vasconcelos, with the goal of educating peasants living in Mexico’s countryside (Padilla 2009). Since their founding, these schools have a socialist and activist orientation and are active in the peasants’ struggles for land distribution. However, they lost much of their funding from the federal government since the switch over to a neoliberal economic model in the 1980s. Protests led by young adults and students in Mexico have gained significant attention in recent years. This chapter looks at the origins of these movements, which were influenced by political corruption and the war on drugs. In particular, the formation of the student-led group #YoSoy132 against presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, and the kidnapping and disappearance of 43 students. The students’ kidnapping led to a series of contentious events assigning blame on the federal government. The use of social media helped garner not just awareness, but support beyond Mexico’s borders. Whether or not this qualifies as a social movement under Charles Tilly’s terms shall be determined after a brief analysis of the events.