Political capacity of indigenous women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec through territorial care

A historical look at resistance from colonialism to neoliberal wind and mining megaprojects

Abstract

This text proposes an alternative definition of care that is not only more inclusive but also transcends the boundaries of the productive and the reproductive, broadening its scope. We understand it as a capacity for political agency that indigenous women have exercised in a network of communal relationships, where gender relations are associated with caring for the territory, to enable the existence and reproduction of their peoples and their defence against the imposition of hegemonic and colonial relations. To this end, a fundamentally qualitative methodology has been used, through participant observation, informal interviews and documentary work. The fieldwork was carried out between 2014 and 2020. It focused on the experiences of the first author, who belongs to the Zoque people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This is situated knowledge (Haraway, 1988) in community and collective life, gathered through participant observation in meetings, demonstrations and workshops where the defence of territories against the impacts of energy and mining megaprojects has been discussed. The results include the transformation of land ownership and the political actors involved, the resulting violence against territorial bodies, and significant responses from women. Today, the agricultural sector at the national level is predominantly male, despite the fact that women play an active role in working the land. This inequality in access to agricultural rights has its origins in historical relations of domination, but is currently exacerbated by the spread of extractivism and dispossession, which is altering gender relations among the indigenous peoples of the isthmus.