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Subordinated Autonomy and the Political Inclusion of Women in Indigenous Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Matthew R. Cleary Open the ORCID record for Matthew R. Cleary [Opens in a new window]
Matthew R. Cleary*
Affiliation:
Matthew R. Cleary is an associate professor of political science and chair of the International Relations Program at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
*
macleary@maxwell.syr.edu.
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Abstract

This article explores the tension between multicultural legal reforms and the liberal state-building project in present-day Mexico. Specifically, it traces the process by which the Mexican state challenged and eventually forced changes to customary restrictions on women in public life in some indigenous communities in the southern state of Oaxaca. The study argues that the act of formalizing autonomy for indigenous communities, in the context of Mexico’s homogenizing neoliberal state, had the unanticipated effect of exposing exclusionary practices to state scrutiny, which eventually forced those communities to recognize women’s political rights. Thus the effort to protect indigenous practices facilitated the territorial and juridical expansion of the Mexican state into formerly autonomous areas of the countryside.

Keywords

Autonomycourtsindigenous politicsliberalismMexicomulticulturalismOaxacawomen
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 62 , Special Issue 3: The Subnational State in Latin America , August 2020 , pp. 44 - 64
Copyright
© University of Miami 2020

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Footnotes

Conflict of Interest: I, Matthew R. Cleary, declare none.

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