Contested Land: Campesinos, Landowners and the Yaqui Indians in Sonora, Mexico
The research seeks to build an economic historiography of agriculture in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. This region, largely understudied because of its geographical and political location, provides us an interesting look at the ways in which global trends over the past three decades affect the position of small-scale subsistence farmers. This research provides a historical analysis of the politics of land struggle in Sonora, grounding the events of the past three decades in the issues that emerge from the Mexican Revolution at the turn of the 20th century. It looks to the circular trends in land reform that come about through the changes in government policies and administrations. It follows the histories of the ejidos and the remarkable Yaqui Indian tribe, a small nation of people who managed to maintain control over their land throughout the invasion of the Spanish and the colonization efforts that ensued. It looks to the issue of race and landownership, as well as the social formation of ethnic identity through control and ownership of land. In particular, this paper explores the effects of globalization on agribusiness in Sonora. It looks to ways in which the increased ties with the U.S. and the opening of economic and political borders affects the economy of agriculture and the position of tribal and ejidal lands. It traces the historical relationships between landowners and laborers. It examines how these relationships have changed and, in some respects, remained the same, throughout the course of the past century.
School:
Barnard College at Columbia University
Department:
Philosophy
Research Advisor:
Dr. Alejandro Lugo
Department of Research Advisor:
Anthropology and Latina/o Studies
Year of Publication:
2004