Resumo

MARTINEZ CASAS, Regina. Tehuacán: The Indigenous People who Once Bought Their Citizens’ Rights. Nueva antropol [online]. 2018, vol.31, n.89, pp.43-65. ISSN 0185-0636.

This article has three main aims. The first is to summarize how the indigenous population of the city of Tehuacán, Puebla, which won many important claims during the colonial period, became a subaltern group. The second is to ethnographically characterize the indigenous Tehuacaneros and how their social ties have changed within an urban context. The third is to analyze the impact and social networks prompted by the Programa Oportunidades (the federal government’s Opportunities Program) among low-income indigenous families that receive the benefits of this program. The conclusion is that the operation of the Program, which favors vertical links and at times clientelism ties with the beneficiaries, has not led to the abolition of the rigidly stratified character of the local society.

Palavras-chave : urban indigenous groups; social networks; inequality among citizens; social programs.