Diversification and Competition of Networks in the Construction of Autochthonous Political-Territorial Projects in Chiapas

Abstract

In the Chiapas of the second half of the twentieth century, tensions arising from economic, social and political inequalities led to a resurgence of indigenous claims for greater autonomy. One of the most common claims was the right to administrate the territories in which indigenous groups reside. The actors were organized in order to design political-territorial projects that were conceived thanks to the use or creation of communication or support networks. After a presentation of the diversity of the networks mobilized in recent processes of territorial reconstruction, real or desired, this contribution questions the generalization and expansion of the use of networks as a model of privileged action in the demands for greater autonomy. Likewise, it will reflect on the exacerbation of intra-community turmoil, born of competition between different networks pursuing the same objective, but inscribed in different political, social or religious frameworks.