Mexico

Toward a Postcapitalist Feminist Political Ecology’s Approach to the Commons and Commoning

Citation:

Sato, Chizu, and Jozelin Maria Soto Alarcón. 2019. “Toward a Postcapitalist Feminist Political Ecology’s Approach to the Commons and Commoning.” International Journal of the Commons 13 (1): 36–61.

Authors: Chizu Sato, Jozelin Maria Soto Alarcón

Abstract:

Feminist scholars are deeply involved in current global debates surrounding natural resource management. Looking at feminists’ engagement through the entry point of the commons and commoning, feminists’ voices are diverse. Somewhat separate from feminist discussions on the commons and commoning, scholars of postcapitalist community economies have recently linked their scholarship to the study of the commons and commoning. This essay expands feminist political ecology’s approaches to the study of the commons and commoning by integrating some insights from existing eco- and autonomist Marxist feminisms as well as postcapitalist community economies. We first discuss a postcapitalist feminist political ecology’s perspective. After introducing our site and methods, we explore the productivity of this framework through an examination of the case of a women-led cooperative that has been producing agave syrup in rural Mexico for the last two decades. To conclude, we discuss several insights this approach may offer for transformative politics.

Keywords: commoning, community economies, cooperatives, feminist political ecology, mexico, multispecies

Topics: Economies, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2019

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The Flight of the Swallow

"Due to the extreme situation in her country, a woman decides to cross the border on foot in search of a better life. The journey leads to devastating consequences that will change her life forever."

Source: https://films.sff.ba/en/detail/?film=The-Flight-of-the-Swallow

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The Politics of Water: Urban Protest, Gender, and Power in Monterrey, Mexico

Citation:

Bennett, Vivienne. 1995. The Politics of Water: Urban Protest, Gender, and Power in Monterrey, Mexico. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Author: Vivienne Bennett

Annotation:

Summary:

Bennett unravels the politics of water in Monterrey by following three threads of inquiry. First, she examines the water services themselves - what was built, when, why, and who paid for them. She then reveals the response of poor women to the water crisis, analyzing who participated in protests, the strategies they used, and how the government responded. And, finally, she considers the dynamics of planning water services for the private sector and the government in investment and management. In the end, Monterrey’s water services improved because power relations shifted and because poor women in Monterrey used protests to make national news out of the city’s water crisis.

The Politics of Water makes a significant contribution to the emerging scholarship on regional politics in Mexico and to a deeper understanding of the Monterrey region in particular. Until recently, most scholarly writing on Mexico spoke of the national political system as a monolithic whole. Scholars such as Vivienne Bennett are now recognizing the power of local citizens and the significant differences among regions when it comes to politics, policy making, and governmental investment decisions. (Summary from original source)

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Urban Water Services: Theory and Planning

3. Buildup of a Crises: The Evolution of Monterrey's Water Service, 1909-1985

4. The Voice of the People: Protests Over Water Service in Monterrey Between 1973 and 1985

5. Gender, Class, and Water: The Role of Women in Protests Over Water

6. Agua Para Todos: The Government's Response to the Water Crisis

7. Conclusion: The Politics of Water

Topics: Development, Economies, Environment, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Privatization Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 1995

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Reducing Gender-Based Violence in Public Transportation: Strategy Design for Mexico City, Mexico

Citation:

Rivadeneyra, Aldo Tudela, Abel Lopez Dodero, Shomik Raj Mehndiratta, Bianca Bianchi Alves, and Elizabeth Deakin. 2015. “Reducing Gender-Based Violence in Public Transportation: Strategy Design for Mexico City, Mexico” Transportation Research Record 2531 (1): 187–94.

Authors: Aldo Tudela Rivadeneyra, Abel Lopez Dodero, Shomik Raj Mehndiratta, Bianca Bianchi Alves, Elizabeth Deakin

Abstract:

Gender-based violence on public transportation in Mexico City, Mexico, is a growing concern. Current efforts to counteract the violence have focused on transit vehicles for exclusive use by women and children and campaigns to promote the report of offenses. To characterize the problem, this study conducted a transit user survey, workshops with transit users, interviews with operators, and interviews with experts in the field. The study found that, even though transit users believed that the gender-exclusive transport service reduced problematic encounters, they did not view the service as a solution to the problem of gender-based violence. Transit users would prefer to see the problem addressed through a combination of interventions including social marketing, mobile phone reporting systems, and transit service upgrades. Government agencies acknowledged that gender segregation and current reporting systems were only partially successful, and nongovernmental organizations and private operators agreed. Those agencies added that they were ready to contribute to the effort to find solutions to the problem. Study recommendations included (a) a communication campaign to foster better social behavior by passengers; (b) the use of technology, such as cell phone applications, to enable users to report offenses; and (c) the further investigation of the potential for new technology-based niche transportation services to address particular markets that were unsafe.

Topics: Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Infrastructure, Information & Communication Technologies, Transportation, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2015

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Land Tenure and Forest Rights of Rural and Indigenous Women in Latin America: Empirical Evidence

Citation:

Bose, Purabi. 2017. "Land Tenure and Forest Rights of Rural and Indigenous Women in Latin America: Empirical Evidence." Women's Studies International Forum 65: 1-8.

Author: Purabi Bose

Abstract:

Latin America's land-use and communal forests needs a better understanding through a lens of women. This research article aims to examine Latin America's secured individual land tenure legal reforms and communal rights in indigenous territories. Two empirical case studies are presented to assess the current dynamics of rural women's land title rights in coffee agroforestry under Colombia's new Formalización Propiedad Rural program, and indigenous Quechua women's communal forest land rights for indigenous foods like kañawa and quinoa farming in highland Bolivia. In doing so, it also gives an introduction to the five empirical research papers that are part of this Special Section edited by the author. The specific case studies are from the Brazilian Amazon, Bolivia's Gran Chaco area, Nicaragua's indigenous territories and two studies from Mexico – one from Oaxaca's central valley and the other is based on smallholder farming in Calakmul rural area. In conclusion, the author discusses the need to prioritise women's role in individual land rights and communal forest tenure in Latin American countries.

Keywords: Latin America, communal forests, indigenous peoples, women, land tenure, food security, joint titling, Brazilian Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua

Topics: Food Security, Gendered Power Relations, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America Countries: Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua

Year: 2017

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Mastering the Struggle: Gender, Actors and Agrarian Change in a Mexican Ejido

Citation:

Brunt, Dorien. 1992. “Mastering the Struggle: Gender, Actors and Agrarian Change in a Mexican Ejido.” PhD diss., the Agricultural University in Wageningen.

Author: Dorien Brunt

Annotation:

Summary:

"This book is about power and about the social order, but it is approached through the struggles of men and women, members of an ejido in Western Mexico (highly integrated in national and international product and labour markets) to improve the quality of their lives. It explores the possibilities they see and the limitations they are confronted with, and how they try to overcome these limitations. As James Scott (1985:XV-XVII) puts it: 'Most subordinate classes throughout most of history have rarely been afforded the luxury of open political activity. Most subordinated classes are far less interested in changing the larger structures and the law than what Hobsbawm has appropriately called "working the system... to their minimum disadvantage. ... For these reasons it seems to be more important to understand what we might call everyday forms of ... resistance.'

"In this case, the everyday struggles are about access to land, access to credit and irrigation water, and keeping control over the land and the production process. But by no means are they only economic struggles, they are also struggles over influence, identity, ideology, creating support. Nor are these struggles only between the local population and the 'representatives of die state', but also take place within the local population itself, between men and women, between those with and those without land, between older and younger generations" (Brunt 1992, 4).

Topics: Age, Agriculture, Class, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 1992

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Gender, Water, and Climate Change in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for Policies and Programmes on Agricultural Income-Generation

Citation:

Buechler, Stephanie. 2009. “Gender, Water, and Climate Change in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for Policies and Programmes on Agricultural Income-Generation.” Gender and Development 17 (1): 51–66.

Author: Stephanie Buechler

Abstract:

This article focuses on the sustainability of gendered agricultural income-generating activities in Sonora, near the Mexico–USA border, in the context of climate change. Farming, and fruit and vegetable home-processing enterprises, still predominate in the area. However, several types of fruits can no longer be produced in this area due to warmer temperatures. Climate change has implications for the sustainability of these activities, which will affect women and men differently, affecting control over their livelihoods and food security. The article makes recommendations for development policies and programmes, for these and similar agricultural communities worldwide.

Keywords: gender, climate change, water, agriculture, Sonora, mexico

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2009

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Violencia de género hacia mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra

Citation:

Carrillo Franco, Blanca Estela, Emma Zapata Martelo, and Verónica Vázquez García. “Violencia de género hacia mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra.” Política y cultura, no. 32 (2009): 127–147.

Authors: Blance Estela Carillo Franco, Emma Zapata Martelo, Verónica Vázquez García

Abstract:

En este artículo se aborda la represión que sufrieron por parte del Estado las mujeres integrantes del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra (FPDT), cuando se movilizaron para defender sus tierras. Mediante reconstrucción y análisis de las memorias que ellas guardan del suceso, se propone reflexionar cómo el Estado utiliza la violencia de género como estrategia para frenar la participación de las mujeres. Se parte de información testimonial y observación participante en espacios organizativos del FPDT para explicar cómo la intervención en este movimiento las ha llevado a sufrir violencia de género y tortura sexualizada. Asimismo, se expone cómo pudieron superar la experiencia que implicó la persecución política hacia el movimiento. (Abstract from original source)

This article analyzes the way in which the female members of the social movement Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra (FPDT) have experienced state violence. Through oral testimonies and field work into organizative spaces of the FPDT, we show how women’s political participation has helped them overcome the experience of gender violence and political persecution, including sexual violation and torture. (English provided by original source)

Topics: Political Participation, Rights, Land Rights, Sexual Violence, SV against women, Torture, Sexual Torture Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2009

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Gender Justice, Development, and Rights

Citation:

Molyneux, Maxine, and Shahra Razavi, eds. 2002. Gender Justice, Development, and Rights. New York: Oxford University Press.

Authors: Maxine Molyneux, Shahra Razavi

Annotation:

Summary:

Gender Justice, Development, and Rights reflects on the significance accorded in international development policy to rights and democracy in the post-Cold War era. Key items on the contemporary policy agenda - neo-liberal economic and social policies, democracy, and multi-culturalism - are addressed here by leading scholars and regional specialists through theoretical reflections and detailed case studies. Together they constitute a collection which casts contemporary liberalism in a distinctive light by applying a gender perspective to the analysis of political and policy processes. Case studies from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, East-Central Europe, South and South-East Asia contribute a cross-cultural dimension to the analysis of contemporary liberalism - the dominant value system in the modern world - by examining how it both exists in and is resisted in developing and post-transition societies. (Summary from WorldCat)

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

Maxine Molyneux and Shahra Razavi

Part I: Re-Thinking Liberal Rights And Universalism

2. Women's Capabilities And Social Justice

Martha Nussbaum

3. Gender Justice, Human Rights And Neo-Liberal Economic Policies

Diane Elson

4. Multiculturalism, Universalism And The Claims Of Democracy

Anne Phillips

Part II: Social Sector Restructuring And Social Rights

5. Political And Social Citizenship: An Examination Of The Case Of Poland

Jacqueline Heinen and Stephane Portet

6. Engendering The New Social Citizenship In Chile: Ngos And Social Provisioning Under Neo-Liberalism

Veronica Schild

7. Engendering Education: Prospects For A Rights-Based Approach To Female Education Deprivation In India

Ramya Subrahmanian

Part III: Democratisation And The Politics Of Gender

8. Feminism And Political Reform In The Islamic Republic Of Iran

Parvin Paidar

9. The 'Devil's Deal': Women's Political Participation And Authoritarianism In Peru

Cecilia Blondet M.

10. In And Against The Party: Women's Representation And Constituency-Building In Uganda And South Africa

Anne Marie Goetz and Shireen Hassim

PART IV: Multiculturalisms In Practice

11. The Politics Of Gender, Ethnicity And Democratization In Malaysia: Shifting Interests And Identities

Maznah Mohamad

12. National Law And Indigenous Customary Law: The Struggle For Justice Of Indigenous Women In Chiapas, Mexico Aida

Hernandez Castillo

13. The Politics Of Women's Rights And Cultural Diversity In Uganda

Aili Mari Tripp

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Education, Governance, Political Participation, Privatization, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, Central America, South America, Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Chile, India, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Uganda

Year: 2002

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Male Bias in the Development Process

Citation:

Elson, Diane, ed. 1990. Male Bias in the Development Process. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Author: Diane Elson

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

1. Male bias in the development process - an overview

2. Women, work and property in the Chinese peasant household of the 1980s

Diane Elson

3. Changing gender relations in Zimbabwe - the case of individual family resettlement areas

Delia Davin

4. The limits to women's independent careers - gender in the formal and informal sectors in Nigeria

Susie Jacobs

5. Informal sector or female sector? - gender bias in urban labour market models

Carolyne Dennis

6. Male bias and women's work in Mexico's border industries

Alison MacEwan Scott

7. Male bias in macroeconomics - the case of structural adjustment

Ruth Pearson

8. Overcoming male bias

Diane Elson

Topics: Development, Gendered Power Relations, Households, International Financial Institutions Regions: Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Americas, Central America, Asia, East Asia Countries: China, Mexico, Nigeria, Zimbabwe

Year: 1990

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