Resumen

HERNANDEZ-FLORES, José Alvaro; MARTINEZ-CORONA, Beatriz  y  RAMIREZ-JUAREZ, Javier. Social subjects in the defense of territory in Puebla, Mexico: the Emiliano Zapata Vive Peasant Union. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2013, vol.10, n.1, pp.85-110. ISSN 1870-5472.

Social movements that arise against the imposition of government initiatives for territorial development favor the conformation of social subjects from the constitution, resurgence and revaluation of new and old identities that emanate from collective actions and from strategies of social participation. In this study, the constitution of the Emiliano Zapata Vive Peasant Union (UCEZV, Unión Campesina Emiliano Zapata Vive), as a result of the government attempt to impose a regional development plan in the region of Tepeaca-Tecamachalco, Puebla, is analyzed; also, the configuration process of the organization as a social subject. The cases of successful social movements in defense of the territory, such as the one presented in this article, illustrate the contradictions of the development model, as well as the validity and revaluation of rural identities and the peasant way of life.

Palabras llave : regional development; collective identity; social movements; peasant resistance.