Power, community and the state : the political anthropology of organisation in Mexico

238 Pages·2003·1.07 MB·English

by  Nuijten

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POWER, COMMUNITY
AND THE STATE
The Political Anthropology of
Organisation in Mexico
MONIQUENUIJTEN
P
Pluto Press
LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA
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First published 2003
by PLUTO PRESS
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 22883 Quicksilver Drive,
Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Monique Nuijten 2003
The right of Monique Nuijten to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 0 7453 1947 5 hardback
ISBN 0 7453 1946 7 paperback
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Nuijten, Monique.
Power, community and the state : the political anthropology of
organisation in Mexico / Monique Nuijten.
p. cm. –– (Anthropology, culture, and society)
ISBN 0–7453–1947–5 (hbk) –– ISBN 0–7453–1946–7 (pbk)
1. La Canoa (Jalisco, Mexico)––Politics and government. 2.
Ejidos––Mexico––La Canoa (Jalisco) 3. Political anthropology––Mexico.
I. Title. II. Series.
JS2120.L2 N84 2003
320.972'35––dc21
2003002322
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Designed and produced for Pluto Press by
Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth EX10 9QG, England
Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Towcester, England
Printedand bound intheEuropeanUnionby
Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England
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CONTENTS
1 AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF POWER AND THE STATE 1
Introduction: anthropology and the state 1
A study of state processes through peasant communities in
Mexico 4
A fascination with power and conspiracy 6
Organising practices and force fields 10
Three dimensions of the state 15
The creation of a multi-sited, reflexive ethnography 19
2 FACTIONALISM AND FAMILY AFTER THE AGRARIAN
REFORM 26
Introduction: Cacicazgoand factionalism in Mexico 26
Agrarian struggle and land reform in the valley of Autlán 27
Land, power and party politics 32
Ejidatarios and their landless neighbours 34
Land and local politics 36
A glimpse of present-day life in La Canoa 41
Factions and the kinship idiom 42
Conclusion: a globalised situated community 46
3 POLITICS AND LOCAL ORGANISATION 48
Introduction: organisation and organising practices 48
Ejido administration and the role of the commissioner 49
Meetings as arenas of bickering and indecisive confrontation 51
The force fields of ejido organising practices 54
The unpopularity of formal positions 60
Contrasting discourses of organisation 63
Conclusion: alternative forms of governance and
accountability 67
4 ILLEGALITY AND THE LAW 70
Introduction: a shadow world of illegal practices 70
A basic contradiction in the agrarian law 71
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vi Power, Community and the State
Migration and the renting out of land: a risky endeavour 74
The inheritance of land and the law 77
Organising practices within an illegal land market 82
A famous land conflict in La Canoa 84
Conclusion: multiple force fields and the role of the law 88
5 THE LOST LAND I: THE PRIEST AND THE LAWYER 91
Introduction: land conflicts and the ‘idea of the state’ 91
Predicament of the conflict and obscure enemies 93
Story-telling, maps and murders 97
Resuming the fight against the Pequeñosin 1991 99
The struggle begins: licenciadoSalazar 102
More dealings with Salazar and growing doubts 110
Shifting constellations and individual frustrations 112
Conclusion: the labyrinthine bureaucratic machine 115
6 THE LOST LAND II: THE SURVEYORS 119
Introduction: the ‘desiring machine’ 119
The SRA surveyor Serrano arriving in the village 120
A new broker: the gatekeeper in Mexico City 124
The priest visiting the head of the SRA in Guadalajara 128
The second surveyor: Castañeda 132
Distrust, conspiracy and dealing with contradictory
information 136
About maps and other ‘hard data’ 138
The third surveyor to arrive at the ejido: Morales 142
Conclusion: modern myths and the culture of the state 148
7 INSIDE THE ‘HOPE-GENERATING MACHINE’ 152
Introduction: the world of the officials 152
The interrelation between politics and the bureaucracy 153
Getting access to the bureaucratic lifeworld 155
Officials dealing with a politicised bureaucracy 158
A new institute and officials fighting corruption 161
Officials and ambiguous institutional environments 164
Conclusion: officials in a world of contradiction 172
8 DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSES AND PARTICIPATORY
APPROACHES 176
Introduction: a top-down imposition of participation 176
Organisation and participation in the development debate 176
The IER programme in a new institutional environment 179
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Contents vii
Intervention and rituals of resistance 184
The myth of the ‘modern’, ‘accountable’ organisation 189
Conclusion: deconstructing the myths in the development
debate 191
9 CORRUPTION, ORDER AND THE IDEA OF THE STATE 194
Introduction: Power in multiple force fields 194
Fantasy and the culture of the state 196
The hope-generating machine and its dividing effects 198
Corruption and the underworld of rituals 200
The continuing importance of the idea of the state 206
Notes 209
References 212
Index 221
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Iamindebtedtomanypeoplewhohavemadethisworkpossibleand
whohavebecomedearfriends.Firstandforemost,Iwanttoexpressmy
gratitudetothepeopleofLaCanoawhoreceivedmeandmyfamilywith
somuchhospitality.Iamgratefulfortheirpatienceandtheirwillingness
tocooperateeventhoughtheyoftenwonderedwhyIneededsomuch
timetowritethe ‘simplehistory’oftheirejido.Theneedtoprotecttheir
identitiesmeansthatIunfortunatelycannotthankthemwiththeirreal
namesandthatIusethenamesthatIhavegiventheminthebook.Iam
mostgratefultoLorenzoRomeroandMaríaLomelíwhowere‘ourfamily
inMexico’.Theyandtheirchildrenhelpedusinmanydifferentways.
LupeMedinabecameadearfriendwhoconfidedmanydetailsofherlife
tomeandhelpedmeunderstandtheimportanceoflandforamother
whosawherchildren,oneafteranother,leavefortheUnitedStates.
SalvadorLagoswasaveryinspiringmanwhoenjoyedrelatinghistories
oftheejido.HetookgreatinterestinthewritingofthisbookandIam
sadthatheisnolongeraroundtoseetheworkcompleted.Iamindebted
toIginioNúñezandRamónRomerofortheirenormouspatienceand
theirinterestintheproblemsoftheejidowithoutwhichIcouldnothave
writtenthisbook.IwouldalsoliketothankManuelPradera,Benita
Romero,andIginioNúñez’swifeAdelmaGodínezforthemanypleasant
gatheringswehadtogetherwiththem.AliciaHernándezandJoaquin
Núñez helped me with the elaboration of a census of La Canoa and
genealogies of families and plots of land in the ejido. They were two
young people who showed great interest in the history of their own
villagebeingwrittenandthemanydiscussionsIhadwiththemhelped
metodevelopmyideas.AlthoughIsometimesfeltuncomfortablewhen
presentingdetailsoftheprivatelivesofseveralfamiliesofLaCanoa,I
hopethattheethnographyexpressesthegreatregardandaffectionIfeel
forthem.
Gregorio Rivera, a regional historian in Autlán, and his wife Cristina
were great hosts and inspiring dialoguers. I am indebted to Ignacio
Gómez, the regional historian of El Grullo, and his wife Rosa for their
viii
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Acknowledgements ix
friendship, our pleasant gatherings, and the many insights they offered
us into regional politics. I also owe much to many officials of government
institutes, with whom I established pleasant relationships. In the region
I want to thank especially the officials of the SARH office in El Grullo, of
the promotoríaof the Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria in Autlán and of
the Procuraduría Agraria in Autlán. In Mexico City I especially wish to
express my gratitude to officials of the headquarters of the Procuraduría
Agraria for offering an open dialogue when they had just started their
work and were developing new programmes for the ejido sector.
In 1994 and 1995 I worked at the anthropology department of El
Colegio de Michoacán, which was a valuable experience. I would like to
thank especially Andy Roth for his friendship and his valuable
suggestions and critique on my work. With Sergio Zendejas and Gail
Mummert I share a fine relationship. Sergio was a great ally in my
struggle to approach the ejido and the Mexican state from different
theoretical angles. Other friends at El Colegio are Brigitte Boehm, Pepe
Lameiras, Rafael and Elena Diego, Marco Antonio Calderón, Eduardo
Zarate, Esteban Barragán and Cristina Monzón.
David Myhre invited me to the Ejido Reform Research Project, and in
this way offered me a forum to discuss my ideas and enter into debate
with prominent academics. A special thanks to John Gledhill, Gavin
Smith and Raymond Buve for their continuous encouragement over the
years. Their critical comments on several of my presentations and
writings were extremely helpful for developing my ideas. The conversa-
tions with Rob Aitken have also been very useful.
This book was produced in two stages. First as a PhD dissertation in
sociology of rural development at Wageningen University. I thank the
Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research
(WOTRO) for the scholarship for the PhD research and for their flexibility
in adapting their procedures to personal situations. Second, the disser-
tation was thoroughly revised for publication. The Netherlands Academy
of the Arts and Sciences (KNAW) made it possible for me to continue my
research in Mexico and develop the theoretical ideas that are presented
in this book.
I want to thank Norman Long for his great inspiration as head of the
department of rural development sociology at Wageningen University
for many years. If it was not for his stimulating lectures and fresh
theoretical ideas, I doubt that I would have continued my career in the
sociology of rural development. I specially want to mention Jan den
Ouden, who has always been a great support in personal and professional
ways. With Gerard Verschoor I share many experiences in Wageningen
and Mexico as a colleague and a special friend. Jos Michel was a great
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x Power, Community and the State
support during all those years that she has been a central figure at the
administration of the department. I thank Leontine Visser, who has taken
over the position as head of the department, for creating a stimulating
and supportive academic environment. A special word of thanks to Franz
and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann who have been dear friends since they
introduced me to the field of legal anthropology. I still remember the visit
they made to La Canoa and the long discussions we had at that time. I feel
fortunate that our discussions and exchange of ideas have never stopped.
However, most of all, my gratitude goes out to Pieter and our twin
daughters Alicia and Liliana. Pieter generously unleashed his critical
skills on each version of the book and was the most critical, but also the
most enthusiastic reader. I am eternally grateful for the support and
encouragement that he has shown me in so many different ways. Our
daughters Alicia and Liliana greatly enriched our lives. Born during our
years in Costa Rica, Alicia and Liliana then accompanied us to reside in
La Canoa and frequently travelled between Jalisco, Michoacán, and
Holland. I am afraid that travelling has become part of their identity. I
dedicate this book to them and Pieter.
Monique Nuijten
Utrecht, the Netherlands
April 2003
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To Pieter, Alicia and Liliana