Abstract

GUZMAN CHAVEZ, Mauricio Genet  and  KINDL, Olivia. Cosmopolitics versus Ethno-nationalism. Conflicts on Ritual Uses of Space in Wirikuta. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2017, vol.38, n.152, pp.217-265. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v38i152.360.

This essay examines the social conflict arising from mining projects in the semi-desert highlands of San Luis Potosí, which include a state-level Natural Protected Area (the Huiricuta Natural Sacred Site). Our analysis is based on fieldwork conducted over a period spanning twenty years, but with an emphasis on the mining conflict that occurred in Wirikuta from 2010 to 2014. It examines the vested interests, discourses and practices of the various actors involved -Wixaritari Indians, Mestizo peyoteros, government officials and the mining company- regarding the uses of ritual space. The discussion addresses the concept of cosmopolitics to discuss the ancestral claims presented in defense of identity and territory, and highlights a new context of political demands that integrates in a novel way the sacredness and agentive capacity of nonhumans.

Keywords : mining; conflict; environment; cosmopolitics; Wirikuta.