UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The creation of community and identity in a rural social movement: The Union of Comuneros "Emiliano Zapata" of Michoacan, Mexico

Vidal, Margarita Del Carmen Zarate; (1996) The creation of community and identity in a rural social movement: The Union of Comuneros "Emiliano Zapata" of Michoacan, Mexico. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London). Green open access

[thumbnail of 10106561.pdf] Text
10106561.pdf

Download (57MB)

Abstract

The thesis will address the issue of the construction and recreation of identities and community among people belonging to an Indian-peasant movement, The Union of Comuneros "Emiliano Zapata" (the UCEZ) in the western state of Michoacán, México. This movement is an important example of an independent rural movement in modern México. Three main subjects are discussed: ethnic identity, gender and the construction of community and communal sentiment of belonging. The interrelation between people's identities and their membership in the organisation is examined through a consideration of the way they adopt particular identities and the degree and nature of their participation in the movement. Reasons and motives for participating in such organisation are explored, and the statements given by the members of this organisation are shown to illuminate how they conceive their participation, appealing not only to instrumental interests as motives to action but also alluding to sentiments of ethnic belonging, ancestry, national heroes, and historic memory. The analytical perspective adopted indicates that identities are not fixed, but fluid and capable of continual reconstruction and redefinition. Particular emphasis is placed on the variety of terms used by the people and those used by others to categorise them. The thesis also discusses the inadequacy of simple concerns with 'authenticity' and an instrumentalist perspective, neither of which seems able to explain the organisation's capacity to mobilise or capture the full meaning of UCEZ membership from the point of view of the comuneros who belong to it.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: The creation of community and identity in a rural social movement: The Union of Comuneros "Emiliano Zapata" of Michoacan, Mexico
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
Keywords: Social sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10102570
Downloads since deposit
105Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item