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  • Matthew Lorenzen has a Ph.D in Sociology from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. In 2017 he carried out a post... moreedit
Este capítulo analiza la migración de NNA no acompañados provenientes del Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica con base en el marco conceptual de las migraciones mixtas. Interpretamos este concepto a partir de tres niveles de análisis... more
Este capítulo analiza la migración de NNA no acompañados provenientes del Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica con base en el marco conceptual de las migraciones mixtas. Interpretamos este concepto a partir de tres niveles de análisis interconectados: un nivel macro que destaca las múltiples causas estructurales de la migración, incluyendo la violencia y los impactos del neoliberalismo; un nivel meso que describe la existencia de flujos migratorios mixtos compuestos por migrantes con distintas características y motivos para migrar; y un nivel micro que explica cómo cada migrante puede tener motivos mixtos para salir de su comunidad de origen.
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Es estado de Morelos en general, y su región de Los Altos no es la excepción, vive desde hace varias décadas una serie de transformaciones aceleradas en cuanto a la configuración de su territorio debido a diferentes factores. El presente... more
Es estado de Morelos en general, y su región de Los Altos no es la excepción, vive desde hace varias décadas una serie de transformaciones aceleradas en cuanto a la configuración de su territorio debido a diferentes factores. El presente libro aborda el estudio de los cambios en el sistema productivo y las consecuencias que la globalización del sistema agroalimentario ha tenido en el sector agrícola regional, sus repercusiones en los movimientos migratorios y las características de los mismos. Adimismo, identifica las principales "estrategias adaptativas" de los pobladores ante estos procesos, los cambios en el uso del suelo y en el mercado de tierras y las características que adquieren las nuevas formas de apropiación territorial y el proceso de urbanización, identificando a los actores que intervienen y sus relaciones sociales. Finalmente, analiza las consecuencias, en términos socioespaciales, de la nueva relación entre lo público y lo privado en dicho proceso de urbanización y las características del proceso de segregación socioespacial tan acendrado que hoy viven la región y sus pobladores.
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Este artículo inicia ofreciendo un panorama general de las epistemologías y metodologías participativas desarrolladas durante la segunda mitad del siglo xx en Latinoamérica. En este contexto, se plantea por objetivo posicionar la asamblea... more
Este artículo inicia ofreciendo un panorama general de las epistemologías y metodologías participativas desarrolladas durante la segunda mitad del siglo xx en Latinoamérica. En este contexto, se plantea por objetivo posicionar la asamblea como espacio de construcción y aplicación de metodologías participativas con el fin de crear conocimiento enfocado en el cuidado del territorio. El caso de estudio es el Geoparque Mundial unesco Mixteca Alta, ubicado en Oaxaca, México. Los resultados visualizan cómo se construye una estructura de apropiación territorial comunitaria que beneficia a los habitantes locales. Las conclusiones resaltan el diseño y aplicación de los procesos de investigación participativa en dos niveles de análisis: el epistemológico y el metodológico.
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to... more
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to the idea that privatization or government intervention are needed. Ostrom showed that the tragedy of the commons can be avoided by the users of a common-pool resource themselves through self-organized and self-governed arrangements. She also proposed a series of “design principles” that would favor a successful governance of common-pool resources. In this paper, we use Ostrom's design principles as a framework to study the governance of wooded areas and grazing lands in 10 communities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region. Based on interviews with local authorities, we corroborate that Ostrom's design principles are key factors that help explain a successful governance of common-pool resources. Furthermore, we argue that this success is also rooted in the characteristics of local governance systems, which are based on indigenous uses and customs and an ethos of communality (comunalidad), and have been formalized by the Mexican State. By showing the links between Ostrom's design principles and comunalidad, we highlight the importance of taking into consideration the local context and social capital to explain the successful governance of common-pool resources.
This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From 1950 to... more
This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From 1950 to 2000, the study area experienced a substantial loss of population, linked essentially to out-migration to Mexico City. However, from 2000 to 2020, four of the municipalities regained population, while the remaining five continued losing residents. This repopulation is explained by a declining but still positive natural population growth combined with less out-migration and slightly more in-migration, linked to growing return migration. However, in-migration is too small to meaningfully explain the transition from massive depopulation to repopulation, meaning that concepts such as counterurbanization and rurbanization are not easily transposed onto the study area, as they centre their attention on the in-migration of former urban dwellers. The paper thus highlights the importance of population retention—explained by local tertiarization, the possibility of commuting to nearby small cities, and the weakening of traditional pull factors—as key to understanding rural repopulation in the study area.
The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool resources more... more
The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool resources more sustainably. Research has largely focused on windows of opportunity such as natural disasters and environmental crises. This paper contends that windows of opportunity should be viewed with a wider lens and include other phenomena that do not necessarily involve a growing pressure or negative impact on ecosystems and common-pool resources. Based on information gathered from interviews and the analysis of official statistics and land use/cover maps, we first show that our study area in Mexico’s Mixteca Alta region, in the state of Oaxaca, has experienced a recovery of woody vegetation—a forest transition—through secondary succession because of depopulation, deagrarianization, agricultural intensification, the decline or change in livestock, and the decline in the use of farmland, grazing lands, and local natural resources. Building on these results, we examine how these demographic, socioeconomic, and land-use changes, along with the emergence of new national institutions and local non-governmental organizations focused on the environment, provided a window of opportunity for communities to change the governance of their forests and grazing lands through the establishment of rules to limit grazing and logging, while also carrying out reforestations. These processes contributed to the further expansion of wooded areas in a positive feedback loop.
Este artículo analiza los rasgos de una nueva ruralidad en nueve municipios de la Mixteca Alta, México, con énfasis en la migración. Después de que en la segunda mitad del siglo xx se dio un intenso despoblamiento en dichos municipios,... more
Este artículo analiza los rasgos de una nueva ruralidad en nueve municipios de la Mixteca Alta, México, con énfasis en la migración. Después de que en la segunda mitad del siglo xx se dio un intenso despoblamiento en dichos municipios, ligado sobre todo a la migración rural-urbana, se observa una reciente estabilización poblacional, lo que contradice algunas perspectivas de la literatura sobre la nueva ruralidad que plantean la expansión de la emigración rural en América Latina. Aquí se explica tal fenómeno con base en el análisis de estadísticas demográficas y socioeconómicas y de entrevistas semiestructuradas a habitantes locales. Los resultados muestran que la movilidad pendular diaria a ciudades cercanas y la terciarización a nivel local han brindado
alternativas a la migración rural-urbana. La posibilidad de que la movilidad pendular diaria y la terciarización puedan favorecer la retención de la población en sus comunidades de origen no ha recibido la debida atención en la literatura de la nueva ruralidad latinoamericana, lo que abre una interesante línea de investigación a futuro.
The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrifi-cation. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of gentrification.... more
The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrifi-cation. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of gentrification. On the other side, another group of  researchers has defended the centrality of  gentrification- induced displacement by explaining that it  is embodied in different forms, including direct residential displacement, displacement pressures, exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, and commercial displacement. This paper builds on those debates in the urban gentrification literature by incorporating evidence from studies on rural gentrification. I summarize various case studies from the United Kingdom, North America, and Latin America, before turning to my own work on rural gentrification and touristification in the Mexican state of Morelos. A central argument is that direct residential displacement is not a predominant impact of rural gentrification, although it  is closely connected to other forms of displacement, including exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, commercial displacement, and the displacement of other animal and plant species. The article concludes with a reflection on how research on rural gentrification contributes to the wider literature and discussion on gentrification and displacement by offering a  more nuanced and complex vision of the link between these phenomena, which is important for the very definition of gentrification.
The forest transition is a concept used to describe and explain the transition from a dwindling to an expanding forest area in a given region or country. Three main explanations of the forest transition have been developed. The first is... more
The forest transition is a concept used to describe and explain the transition from a dwindling to an expanding forest area in a given region or country. Three main explanations of the forest transition have been developed. The first is the “economic development path to the forest transition”, which contends that economic development and new agricultural technologies trigger rural-urban migration and agricultural intensification, leading in turn to the abandonment of marginal farmland and eventually to a forest recovery. The second is the “forest scarcity path to the forest transition”, which argues that the scarcity of forests is a major factor that encourages commercial tree plantations, reforestations and the conservation of woodlands. A third explanation has been advanced in certain developing countries. This explanation, referred to in this paper as the “diversification of rural livelihoods path to the forest transition”, holds that rural households must adjust to outside forces, including globalization and neoliberal economic policies, and that those adjustments marginalize smallholder farming, allowing for the expansion of forests. This paper describes and explains the onset of a forest transition in the Mixteca Alta UNESCO Global Geopark, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on qualitative fieldwork and the analysis of official statistics and land-use/cover maps, we contend that the three paths to the forest transition overlap in our study area. This implies a fuller and more complex explanation of the forest transition, which is crucial to understand the expansion of woodlands in other regions of Mexico and the developing world.
This paper, which builds on the mixed migration framework, provides a description of the trends, the sociodemographic characteristics, the motives, and the mixes of motives of Central American migrants traveling to and through Mexico,... more
This paper, which builds on the mixed migration framework, provides a description of the trends, the sociodemographic characteristics, the motives, and the mixes of motives of Central American migrants traveling to and through Mexico, based on data from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, the US Border Patrol, the EMIF-Sur survey, and a survey that was carried out in 2016 in 10 shelters for child migrants run by Mexico’s DIF agencies. Based on that description, the paper provides a reflection on the public policy implications of mixed migration from Central America, particularly regarding the challenges it creates for international humanitarian protection.
A growing body of literature has argued that the distinction between forced and voluntary migration can be, in practice, unclear. This literature points out that each individual migrant may have mixed motives for migrating, including both... more
A growing body of literature has argued that the distinction between forced and voluntary migration can be, in practice, unclear. This literature points out that each individual migrant may have mixed motives for migrating, including both forced and voluntary reasons. Few studies, however, have actually set out to analyze mixed-motive migration.

This paper examines the mixed-motive migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America’s Northern Triangle states (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), using data from a small 2016 survey carried out in 10 shelters for unaccompanied child migrants run by a Mexican government child welfare agency. Using this survey, the paper identifies the immigrating minor’s motives, which are oftentimes mixed, and details differences by nationality, gender, and age groups. Some of the key findings include:

    -Around one-third of the child migrants surveyed had mixed motives, including both forced and voluntary reasons for migrating.
    -Violence appears most often as a reason for migrating among minors with mixed motives, as opposed to the search for better opportunities, which appears more often as an exclusive motive.
    -Significant differences between the three nationalities are observed. Relatively few Guatemalan minors indicated violence as a motive, and few displayed mixed motives, as opposed to Hondurans, and especially Salvadorans.
    -The minors fleeing violence, searching for better opportunities, and indicating both motives at the same time were largely mature male adolescents.
    -The minors mentioning family reunification as their sole motive were predominantly girls and young children.

The results indicate that binary formulations regarding forced and voluntary migration are often inadequate. This has important implications, briefly addressed in the conclusions. These implications include:

    -the need for migration scholars to consider forced reasons for migrating in the context of mixed-motive migration;
    -the fact that mixed motives call into question the established, clear-cut categories that determine whether someone is worthy of humanitarian protection or not;
    -the need to have in-depth, attentive, and individual asylum screening because motives may be interconnected and entangled, and because forced reasons may be hidden behind voluntary motives; and
    -the need for a more flexible policy approach, so that immigration systems may be more inclusive of migrants with mixed motives.
El lamentable caso de Ayotzinapa nos pone frente al espejo para cuestionar los logros alcanzados por las autoridades e instituciones mexicanas en materia de seguridad, justicia, democracia, participación política, educación, trabajo,... more
El lamentable caso de Ayotzinapa nos pone frente al espejo para cuestionar los logros alcanzados por las autoridades e instituciones mexicanas en materia de seguridad, justicia, democracia, participación política, educación, trabajo, economía y desarrollo social. En 1917 se promulgó la Constitución, que en ese momento fue pionera en la protección de los derechos sociales. En la actualidad, bajo el neoliberalismo, la pobreza y la desigualdad social se expanden y profundizan. Aún entre los pudientes, son unos cuantos los que acumulan la riqueza, frente a una
The deplorable case of Ayotzinapa puts us in front of a mirror to question the accomplishments reached by Mexican authorities and institutions regarding security, justice, democracy, political participation, education, employment, the... more
The deplorable case of Ayotzinapa puts us in front of a mirror to question the accomplishments reached by Mexican authorities and institutions regarding security, justice, democracy, political participation, education, employment, the economy and social development. In 1917, the Mexican Constitution was enacted, which was groundbreaking at that time regarding the protection of social rights. Today, under neoliberalism, poverty and social inequality are expanding and becoming
entrenched. Even among the well-off, there is only a small group that is accumulating the wealth, while society sees the middle-class weaken and the most vulnerable being victimized. This paper, which was born as a reaction to the Ayotzinapa case, is a reflexion on the context of violence, corruption, violation of human rights, impunity, inequality and poverty in Mexico, as well as on the state of affairs of Mexican democracy.
Entre 2008 y 2010, Tijuana vivió una ola de violencia sin precedentes en la historia reciente de esta ciudad fronteriza. Este artículo analiza los impactos de esa ola de violencia y de la economía criminal de Tijuana, enfocándose en el... more
Entre 2008 y 2010, Tijuana vivió una ola de violencia sin precedentes en la historia reciente de esta ciudad fronteriza. Este artículo analiza los impactos de esa ola de violencia y de la economía criminal de Tijuana, enfocándose en el espacio social y el mercado inmobiliario de la ciudad. Además, se busca identificar a posibles “ganadores”, en términos inmobiliarios, ligados a los impactos de la criminalidad y su poderosa economía ilícita. El artículo se basa en testimonios anónimos de residentes y víctimas directas e indirectas de la violencia criminal y estatal.
Dans cet article nous révisons le défi du multiculturalisme et de la diversité culturelle dans le contexte latino-américain, analysant le cas concret de la Colombie. Nous tentons de lier la notion de diversité culturelle à l'idée de... more
Dans cet article nous révisons le défi du multiculturalisme et de la diversité culturelle dans le contexte latino-américain, analysant le cas concret de la Colombie. Nous tentons de lier la notion de diversité culturelle à l'idée de mémoire. La Constitution colombienne adoptée en 1991 a cherché à faire le pont entre ces deux concepts ; toutefois, nous estimons que les défis sont encore très grands pour cette nation andine, considérant en particulier les catégories de négritude et d'identité culturelle. Nous notons aussi les tensions qui existent dans la Constitution entre les droits individuels et les droits collectifs, et nous montrons les difficultés qui existent pour la diversité culturelle face à la percée des politiques néolibérales.
Dans cet article nous révisons le défi du multiculturalisme et de la diversité culturelle dans le contexte latino-américain, analysant le cas concret de la Colombie. Nous tentons de lier la notion de diversité culturelle à l’idée de... more
Dans cet article nous révisons le défi du multiculturalisme et de la diversité culturelle dans le contexte latino-américain, analysant le cas concret de la Colombie. Nous tentons de lier la notion de diversité culturelle à l’idée de mémoire. La Constitution colombienne adoptée en 1991 a cherché à faire le pont entre ces deux concepts ; toutefois, nous estimons que les défis sont encore très grands pour cette nation andine, considérant en particulier les catégories de négritude et d’identité culturelle. Nous notons aussi les tensions qui existent dans la Constitution entre les droits individuels et les droits collectifs, et nous montrons les difficultés qui existent pour la diversité culturelle face à la percée des politiques néolibérales.
Planteamos en este artículo la hipótesis basada en un trabajo de campo efectuado en tres municipios del estado de Morelos (México), de que los procesos de gentrificación rural y periurbana puedan fomentar en ciertos contextos el anclaje... more
Planteamos en este artículo la hipótesis basada en un trabajo de campo efectuado en tres municipios del estado de Morelos (México), de que los procesos de gentrificación rural y periurbana puedan fomentar en ciertos contextos el anclaje
de la población originaria mediante la creación de empleos y nuevas actividades económicas, ligados a la construcción de casas y a la demanda de bienes y servicios por parte de los gentrificadores. Esta hipótesis impugnaría la idea del desplazamiento residencial como un efecto inherente y un criterio definitorio de la gentrificación. No obstante, se verá que existen diferentes efectos negativos de la gentrificación en las regiones de estudio, que incluyen el desplazamiento del lugar de trabajo de ciertos productores agrícolas (sin implicar un desplazamiento residencial), la pérdida del sentido de pertenencia de los habitantes originarios, diferentes abusos e irregularidades en el mercado inmobiliario, y la escasez y contaminación del agua.
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This paper is based on research carried out in three municipalities of the state of Morelos, Mexico, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers and rural inhabitants. We address the hypothesis that processes of rural... more
This paper is based on research carried out in three municipalities of the state of Morelos, Mexico, where we
conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers and rural inhabitants. We address the hypothesis that processes of rural
gentrification can incite the persistence of the native population and of agricultural activities through the creation of supplementary sources of work. This hypothesis challenges a part of the literature on gentrification that maintains a rigid notion of gentrification, essentially applicable to situations of urban renovation, and that involves the displacement of the native population with a newly arrived high-income population. In contrast, this paper joins the arguments of another group of
researchers that defend a more flexible notion of gentrification, applicable to other geographical areas (peri-urban and rural spaces) and to contexts involving new real-estate developments, where the displacement phenomenon is far from being widespread. Our fieldwork made clear that far from contributing to the displacement of the native population, the influx of high-income groups, be they tourists, temporal or permanent residents, has promoted the creation of local employment opportunities that benefit the local population.
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Este artículo tiene la intención de examinar el Programa de Apoyos Directos al Campo (Procampo), un programa de apoyos monetarios directos a los agricultores mexicanos que fue puesto en marcha a finales de 1993 con el objetivo de... more
Este artículo tiene la intención de examinar el Programa de Apoyos Directos al Campo (Procampo), un programa de apoyos monetarios directos a los agricultores mexicanos que fue puesto en marcha a finales de 1993 con el objetivo de compensar a los productores por el proceso de apertura económica y el retiro del control sobre los precios agrícolas. La larga duración del Procampo y su importancia en el presupuesto sectorial hacen de este programa un objeto de estudio especialmente relevante en el campo de los estudios regionales, en particular para el análisis de las tendencias en la producción agropecuaria así como de las condiciones y estrategias de vida de una parte significativa de la población rural. No obstante, insistiremos en subrayar la discordancia entre los objetivos ambiciosos del Procampo y sus impactos divergentes tanto regionales como sociales.
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This thesis analyses the causes and impacts of urbanisation and rural gentrification in three municipalities of the state of Morelos, Mexico, and the reproduction strategies that native inhabitants draw on in this context. We examine two... more
This thesis analyses the causes and impacts of urbanisation and rural gentrification in three municipalities of the state of Morelos, Mexico, and the reproduction strategies that native inhabitants draw on in this context. We examine two types of causes of this urbanisation and rural gentrification, those which, from the “production side”, create the offer of gentrified spaces, and those which, from the “consumption side”, encourage the demand for these spaces. As for the impacts of this urbanisation and rural gentrification on the native inhabitants, they are, in general, positive in economic terms, encouraging the anchoring of these inhabitants to their localities of origin through the creation of job opportunities (especially in the service sector), but negative in social and environmental terms. Moreover, we analyse the agricultural, agrarian and non agricultural reproduction strategies that the native inhabitants draw on in this context of urbanisation and rural gentrification. In this way, we show that there is an expansion of non agricultural strategies – especially the adoption of non agricultural employment and the increase in schooling – that have impacts on agricultural strategies, notably concerning the reduction in the participation of family labour in agricultural activities and the increase in the weight of wage labour, and on land tenure strategies, encouraging the selling and renting out of plots.
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This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From... more
This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From 1950 to 2000, the study area experienced a substantial loss of population, linked essentially to out-migration to Mexico City. However, from 2000 to 2020, four of the municipalities regained population, while the remaining five continued losing residents. This repopulation is explained by a declining but still positive natural population growth combined with less out-migration and slightly more in-migration, linked to growing return migration. However, in-migration is too small to meaningfully explain the transition from massive depopulation to repopulation, meaning that concepts such as counterurbanization and rurbanization are not easily transposed onto the study area, as they centre their attention on the in-migration of former urban dwellers. The paper thus highlights the importance of population retention—explained by local tertiarization, the possibility of commuting to nearby small cities, and the weakening of traditional pull factors—as key to understanding rural repopulation in the study area.
Abstract The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool... more
Abstract The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool resources more sustainably. Research has largely focused on windows of opportunity such as natural disasters and environmental crises. This paper contends that windows of opportunity should be viewed with a wider lens and include other phenomena that do not necessarily involve a growing pressure or negative impact on ecosystems and common-pool resources. Based on information gathered from interviews and the analysis of official statistics and land use/cover maps, we first show that our study area in Mexico’s Mixteca Alta region, in the state of Oaxaca, has experienced a recovery of woody vegetation—a forest transition—through secondary succession because of depopulation, deagrarianization, agricultural intensification, the decline or change in livestock, and the decline in the use of farmland, grazing lands, and local natural resources. Building on these results, we examine how these demographic, socioeconomic, and land-use changes, along with the emergence of new national institutions and local non-governmental organizations focused on the environment, provided a window of opportunity for communities to change the governance of their forests and grazing lands through the establishment of rules to limit grazing and logging, while also carrying out reforestations. These processes contributed to the further expansion of wooded areas in a positive feedback loop.
Abstract The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrification. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of... more
Abstract The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrification. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of gentrification. On the other side, another group of researchers has defended the centrality of gentrification-induced displacement by explaining that it is embodied in different forms, including direct residential displacement, displacement pressures, exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, and commercial displacement. This paper builds on those debates in the urban gentrification literature by incorporating evidence from studies on rural gentrification. I summarize various case studies from the United Kingdom, North America, and Latin America, before turning to my own work on rural gentrification and touristification in the Mexican state of Morelos. A central argument is that direct residential displacement is not a predominant impact of rural gentrification, although it is closely connected to other forms of displacement, including exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, commercial displacement, and the displacement of other animal and plant species. The article concludes with a reflection on how research on rural gentrification contributes to the wider literature and discussion on gentrification and displacement by offering a more nuanced and complex vision of the link between these phenomena, which is important for the very definition of gentrification.
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to... more
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to the idea that privatization or government intervention are needed. Ostrom showed that the tragedy of the commons can be avoided by the users of a common-pool resource themselves through self-organized and self-governed arrangements. She also proposed a series of “design principles” that would favor a successful governance of common-pool resources. In this paper, we use Ostrom's design principles as a framework to study the governance of wooded areas and grazing lands in 10 communities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region. Based on interviews with local authorities, we corroborate that Ostrom's design principles are key factors that help explain a successful governance of common-pool resources. Furthermore, we argue that this success is also rooted in the characteristics of local governance systems, which are based on indigenous uses and customs and an ethos of communality (comunalidad), and have been formalized by the Mexican State. By showing the links between Ostrom's design principles and comunalidad, we highlight the importance of taking into consideration the local context and social capital to explain the successful governance of common-pool resources.
Este artículo inicia ofreciendo un panorama general de las epistemologías y metodologías participativas desarrolladas durante la segunda mitad del siglo xx en Latinoamérica. En este contexto, se plantea por objetivo posicionar la asamblea... more
Este artículo inicia ofreciendo un panorama general de las epistemologías y metodologías participativas desarrolladas durante la segunda mitad del siglo xx en Latinoamérica. En este contexto, se plantea por objetivo posicionar la asamblea como espacio de construcción y aplicación de metodologías participativas con el fin de crear conocimiento enfocado en el cuidado del territorio. El caso de estudio es el Geoparque Mundial unesco Mixteca Alta, ubicado en Oaxaca, México. Los resultados visualizan cómo se construye una estructura de apropiación territorial comunitaria que beneficia a los habitantes locales. Las conclusiones resaltan el diseño y aplicación de los procesos de investigación participativa en dos niveles de análisis: el epistemológico y el metodológico.
The literature on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the impacts on women were particularly harsh, as lockdowns increased their household workloads and devastated female-dominated occupations. However, little has... more
The literature on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the impacts on women were particularly harsh, as lockdowns increased their household workloads and devastated female-dominated occupations. However, little has been published on the construction of livelihood strategies to offset the impacts of the pandemic. Analysis of the strategies of women in two rural municipalities of the Mixteca Alta region in Mexico shows an increased use of local natural resources, backyard farming, and local trade. It also shows how a gendered lens can be applied to the components of the sustainable-livelihoods framework to produce finer-grained analyses of livelihoods and the factors that influence them. La literatura en torno a los efectos económicos de la pandemia de COVID-19 muestra que los impactos sobre la población femenina fueron particularmente duros, ya que el confinamiento aumentó sus cargas de trabajo doméstico y devastó las ocupaciones dominadas por mujeres. Sin embargo...
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to... more
Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to the idea that privatization or government intervention are needed. Ostrom showed that the tragedy of the commons can be avoided by the users of a common-pool resource themselves through self-organized and self-governed arrangements. She also proposed a series of “design principles” that would favor a successful governance of common-pool resources. In this paper, we use Ostrom's design principles as a framework to study the governance of wooded areas and grazing lands in 10 communities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region. Based on interviews with local authorities, we corroborate that Ostrom's design principles are key factors that help explain a successful governance of common-pool resources. Furthermore, we argue that this success is also rooted in the characteristics of local governance systems, which are based on indigenous uses and customs and an ethos of communality (comunalidad), and have been formalized by the Mexican State. By showing the links between Ostrom's design principles and comunalidad, we highlight the importance of taking into consideration the local context and social capital to explain the successful governance of common-pool resources.
El análisis de los cambios en la cobertura y el uso de suelo representa una cuestión central para la geografía aplicada. En México, aunque la deforestación predomine a nivel nacional, convive con procesos regionales de recuperación de la... more
El análisis de los cambios en la cobertura y el uso de suelo representa una cuestión central para la geografía aplicada. En México, aunque la deforestación predomine a nivel nacional, convive con procesos regionales de recuperación de la superficie de bosque –la llamada transición forestal. A pesar de la existencia de una amplia literatura sobre la transición forestal en México y en otros países en desarrollo, pocos estudios han abordado de forma simultánea los factores sociales y biofísicos de este fenómeno. Precisamente, en la Mixteca Alta, en el estado de Oaxaca, se ha documentado un aumento de la cubierta forestal desde hace varias décadas debido a la combinación de estos factores. En este estudio analizamos los cambios en la cobertura y el uso de suelo entre 1967 y 2020 en el Geoparque Mundial UNESCO Mixteca Alta (GMA) a partir de fotografías aéreas (1967) e imágenes de satélite (2020). Se encontró que, en el periodo de estudio, el bosque de encino aumentó 59%, el bosque de pin...
Cette these analyse les causes et les impacts de l'urbanisation et de la gentrification rurale dans trois municipalites de l'etat de Morelos, au Mexique, ainsi que les strategies de reproduction que mobilisent les habitants... more
Cette these analyse les causes et les impacts de l'urbanisation et de la gentrification rurale dans trois municipalites de l'etat de Morelos, au Mexique, ainsi que les strategies de reproduction que mobilisent les habitants originaires dans ce contexte, Nous examinons deux types de causes de l'urbanisation et de la gentrification rurale, ceux qui, « du cote de la production », creent l'offre d'espaces gentrifies, el ceux qui, « du cote de la consommation », encouragent la demande de ces espaces. Quant aux impacts de cette urbanisation et gentrification rurale sur les habitants originaires, ils sont, de facon generale, positifs en termes economiques, encourageant lU1 ancrage des habitants u leurs localites d'origine a partir de la creation d'emplois (notamment dans les services), mais negatifs en termes sociaux et environnement aux. D'autre part, nous analysons les strategies de reproduction agricoles, foncieres et non agricoles que mobilisent les habi...
Les entregamos a los lectores el séptimo volumen de Anuario Latinoamericano y los invitamos a leerlo. El Dossier incluye artículos cuyos autores realizaron un análisis multidimensional de los condicionamientos, el desarrollo y la dinámica... more
Les entregamos a los lectores el séptimo volumen de Anuario Latinoamericano y los invitamos a leerlo. El Dossier incluye artículos cuyos autores realizaron un análisis multidimensional de los condicionamientos, el desarrollo y la dinámica del escenario político, económico, social y cultural actual de América Latina. En la sección Artículos y ensayos, los autores de los artículos publicados allí centraron su atención en analizar varios aspectos de la seguridad en Brasil, América Central y México. En la sección Reseñas e informes, les recomendamos leer tanto la reseña de un libro como informes de congresos, conferencias y simposios científicos dedicados a los estudios latinoamericanos que tuvieron lugar en la Universidad de Guadalajara en México y en las universidades polacas en Łódź, Cracovia y Lublin.
This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From... more
This paper analyzes differential trends in rural depopulation and repopulation in nine municipalities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, based on census data and interviews carried out in 2019. From 1950 to 2000, the study area experienced a substantial loss of population, linked essentially to out-migration to Mexico City. However, from 2000 to 2020, four of the municipalities regained population, while the remaining five continued losing residents. This repopulation is explained by a declining but still positive natural population growth combined with less out-migration and slightly more in-migration, linked to growing return migration. However, in-migration is too small to meaningfully explain the transition from massive depopulation to repopulation, meaning that concepts such as counterurbanization and rurbanization are not easily transposed onto the study area, as they centre their attention on the in-migration of former urban dwellers. The paper thus highlights the importance of population retention—explained by local tertiarization, the possibility of commuting to nearby small cities, and the weakening of traditional pull factors—as key to understanding rural repopulation in the study area.
The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool resources more... more
The notion of windows of opportunity, developed in the literature on adaptive governance, refers to the existence of circumstances or events that trigger and promote governance changes to manage ecosystems and common-pool resources more sustainably. Research has largely focused on windows of opportunity such as natural disasters and environmental crises. This paper contends that windows of opportunity should be viewed with a wider lens and include other phenomena that do not necessarily involve a growing pressure or negative impact on ecosystems and common-pool resources. Based on information gathered from interviews and the analysis of official statistics and land use/cover maps, we first show that our study area in Mexico’s Mixteca Alta region, in the state of Oaxaca, has experienced a recovery of woody vegetation—a forest transition—through secondary succession because of depopulation, deagrarianization, agricultural intensification, the decline or change in livestock, and the de...
Abstract The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrification. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of... more
Abstract The phenomenon of displacement has been at the centre of fierce debates in the literature on urban gentrification. On one side, a group of authors has argued that residential displacement is not always a key component of gentrification. On the other side, another group of researchers has defended the centrality of gentrification-induced displacement by explaining that it is embodied in different forms, including direct residential displacement, displacement pressures, exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, and commercial displacement. This paper builds on those debates in the urban gentrification literature by incorporating evidence from studies on rural gentrification. I summarize various case studies from the United Kingdom, North America, and Latin America, before turning to my own work on rural gentrification and touristification in the Mexican state of Morelos. A central argument is that direct residential displacement is not a predominant impact of rural gentrification, although it is closely connected to other forms of displacement, including exclusionary displacement, socio-cultural displacement, commercial displacement, and the displacement of other animal and plant species. The article concludes with a reflection on how research on rural gentrification contributes to the wider literature and discussion on gentrification and displacement by offering a more nuanced and complex vision of the link between these phenomena, which is important for the very definition of gentrification.
The forest transition is a concept used to describe and explain the transition from a dwindling to an expanding forest area in a given region or country. Three main explanations of the forest transition have been developed. The first is... more
The forest transition is a concept used to describe and explain the transition from a dwindling to an expanding forest area in a given region or country. Three main explanations of the forest transition have been developed. The first is the “economic development path to the forest transition”, which contends that economic development and new agricultural technologies trigger rural-urban migration and agricultural intensification, leading in turn to the abandonment of marginal farmland and eventually to a forest recovery. The second is the “forest scarcity path to the forest transition”, which argues that the scarcity of forests is a major factor that encourages commercial tree plantations, reforestations and the conservation of woodlands. A third explanation has been advanced in certain developing countries. This explanation, referred to in this paper as the “diversification of rural livelihoods path to the forest transition”, holds that rural households must adjust to outside forces, including globalization and neoliberal economic policies, and that those adjustments marginalize smallholder farming, allowing for the expansion of forests. This paper describes and explains the onset of a forest transition in the Mixteca Alta UNESCO Global Geopark, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on qualitative fieldwork and the analysis of official statistics and land-use/cover maps, we contend that the three paths to the forest transition overlap in our study area. This implies a fuller and more complex explanation of the forest transition, which is crucial to understand the expansion of woodlands in other regions of Mexico and the developing world.
Entre 2008 y 2010, Tijuana vivió una ola de violencia sin precedentes en la historia reciente de esta ciudad fronteriza. Este artículo analiza los impactos de esa ola de violencia y de la economía criminal de Tijuana, enfocándose en el... more
Entre 2008 y 2010, Tijuana vivió una ola de violencia sin precedentes en la historia reciente de esta ciudad fronteriza. Este artículo analiza los impactos de esa ola de violencia y de la economía criminal de Tijuana, enfocándose en el espacio social y el mercado inmobiliario de la ciudad. Además, se busca identificar a posibles “ganadores”, en términos inmobiliarios, ligados a los impactos de la criminalidad y su poderosa economía ilícita. El artículo se basa en testimonios anónimos de residentes y víctimas directas e indirectas de la violencia criminal y estatal.
The deplorable case of Ayotzinapa puts us in front of a mirror to question the accomplishments reached by Mexican authorities and institutions regarding security, justice, democracy, political participation, education, employment, the... more
The deplorable case of Ayotzinapa puts us in front of a mirror to question the accomplishments reached by Mexican authorities and institutions regarding security, justice, democracy, political participation, education, employment, the economy and social development. In 1917, the Mexican Constitution was enacted, which was groundbreaking at that time regarding the protection of social rights. Today, under neoliberalism, poverty and social inequality are expanding and becoming entrenched. Even among the well-off, there is only a small group that is accumulating the wealth, while society sees the middle-class weaken and the most vulnerable being victimized. This paper, which was born as a reaction to the Ayotzinapa case, is a reflexion on the context of violence, corruption, violation of human rights, impunity, inequality and poverty in Mexico, as well as on the state of affairs of Mexican democracy.
Este artículo analiza los rasgos de una nueva ruralidad en nueve municipios de la Mixteca Alta, México, con énfasis en la migración. Después de que en la segunda mitad del siglo XX se dio un intenso despoblamiento en dichos municipios,... more
Este artículo analiza los rasgos de una nueva ruralidad en nueve municipios de la Mixteca Alta, México, con énfasis en la migración. Después de que en la segunda mitad del siglo XX se dio un intenso despoblamiento en dichos municipios, ligado sobre todo a la migración rural-urbana, se observa una reciente estabilización poblacional, lo que contradice algunas perspectivas de la literatura sobre la nueva ruralidad que plantean la expansión de la emigración rural en América Latina. Aquí se explica tal fenómeno con base en el análisis de estadísticas demográficas y socioeconómicas y de entrevistas semiestructuradas a habitantes locales. Los resultados muestran que la movilidad pendular diaria a ciudades cercanas y la terciarización a nivel local han brindado alternativas a la migración rural-urbana. La posibilidad de que la movilidad pendular diaria y la terciarización puedan favorecer la retención de la población en sus comunidades de origen no ha recibido la debida atención en la lite...