Abstract

TORRES, Gabriel. "Hummerization": Local "Disorder", Cultural Diversity and Polycentric Domination in the Mexican Countryside. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2012, vol.33, n.132, pp.223-262. ISSN 2448-7554.

This article identifies certain behavioral patterns characteristic of the regime of global/local domination, specifically with regards to their effects on the Mexican countryside. Forms of structurally-oriented, "neo-imperialist domination" are examined from the local perspective and evaluated critically in economic, political, techno-informatic and social terms; a vision captured concretely in the use of the metaphor of "hummerization", which emphasizes the ambivalence of neo-imperial power. This ambivalence is analogous to that which emerged with the introduction of the gas-guzzling vehicle, the Hummer, whose social impact was but fleeting because of its wasteful consumption of gasoline. The ethnographic analysis centers on a case study of a locality on the coast of the state of Jalisco, seen from distinct perspectives. One situational focus develops through interviews and indirect observations of an extraordinary event: the mysterious death of a young, 26-year-old mother who was burned alive in her own home. The second approach is of a more historical-structural nature that brings to bear some of the author’s own memories, extracted from notes written at different moments and gathered from his position as a witness to local community life, but then extended out towards a regional/national vision that opens up perspectives on tracing the history of the past four decades.

Keywords : Hummerization; polycentric domination; cultural diversity.

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