Resumo

GARCIA BARRIOS, Raúl. The origin of the UNAM's ecological reserve in CU: history of a patrimonial and environmental conflict. Cultura representaciones soc [online]. 2014, vol.9, n.17, pp.177-226. ISSN 2007-8110.

The main purpose of this article is to present an account of the origin, not very well known, of the University Campus ecological reserve, decreed in October, 1983, at the beginnings of neoliberalism. The history that is narrated is complex and considers local and foreign factors that intersect and exceed the national area. It initiates in 1981 with the intention of the university authorities to capitalize the territorial university heritage, and the emergence of several forces that opposed this intention and allowed our maximum university to reinforce its autonomous and public character. In the analysis of this history several factors are revealed in order to explain why instead of constructing urban motorways in CU the reserve was decreed and the integrity of the University Campus was kept. The role of a student-environmental movement, the first one of its type in Mexico, which created the conditions to make these factors coincide and coordinate in contradictory and surprising ways, is pointed out. In addition, this movement adopted a distinctive and rather new form, namely, that of an environmental movement led by students and teachers from the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Sciences. But this political-academic organization structure did not arise by spontaneous generation. Its creation is also narrated and analyzed.

Palavras-chave : University City; territorial heritage; debt crisis; Faculty of Science; student movement; ecological Reserve; Pedregal de San Angel.