Abstract

CENDEJAS, Josefina María; ARROYO, Omar  and  SANCHEZ, Angélica. Communality and buen vivir as indigenous strategies to face violence in Michoacan: The cases of Cherán and San Miguel de Aquila. Rev. pueblos front. digit. [online]. 2015, vol.10, n.19, pp.257-284. ISSN 1870-4115.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2015.19.53.

The escalation of violence experienced since 2006 in the Western state of Michoacan, Mexico, has significantly affected the regions of Tierra Caliente, Sierra Costa and Meseta Purépecha. This article addresses two cases of indigenous communities, a Purepecha community in Cherán, and a Nahua community in San Miguel de Aquila. The collective responses of these two communities to the attacks of organized crime are described and compared in search of elements to explain the dramatically different results obtained by both communities. An approach from the perspective of political ecology allows for an analysis of the issues faced by each one of them as a result of the «global assault on common goods». The notions of comunalidad and buen vivir ‘good living’ are germane to an identification of strengths, weaknesses and possible future consequences of the social movements.

Keywords : violence; indigenous communities; political ecology; comunalidad; buen vivir.