Abstract

TORRES ALVAREZ, Martha Marisol  and  TRENCH, Tim. Is environmental governance possible? Residues of power in the attunement of public action in La Suiza, Chiapas, Mexico. Rev. pueblos front. digit. [online]. 2021, vol.16, e541.  Epub Apr 28, 2023. ISSN 1870-4115.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2021.v16.541.

In this contribution, we show how imaginaries and practices around local authority (attunement) are constructed historically and continue to the present in the ‘residues of power’, a symbolic capital that enforces subordination. This is in sharp contrast to the horizontal discourse characteristic of environmental governance (EG). Applying the methodology of grounded theory, we identified that, even though there has been social change in the region, the perception of authority is shaped by historical identity practices that are recreated as part of a system of control in current participatory spaces, such as the Intercommunity Group for Territorial Action (GIAT). In the context of this EG intervention, we suggest taking into account the characteristics of the regional political space and recognizing the inertias present in participation, both as limiting factors in EG models that are implemented on top of a diversity of regional political cultures.

Keywords : Political culture; authority; hegemony; participation; Sierra Madre de Chiapas.