Ethnic identity and the relationship of indigenous peoples with the Mexican State

Abstract

Ethnic identity has transcended from a simple differentiation from others to become a tool of ethnopolitical struggle, which is currently used by the indigenous peoples of Mexico to relate to the State in a different way. This implies understanding the different interethnic relations that occur in the national and even global environment, where globalization is paradoxically causing the local to regain strength to differentiate itself. This is the case of the indigenous peoples who had been subjugated by the liberal regime during the 19th and 20th centuries and in the new millennium; these peoples seek to free themselves from this subjugation, identifying themselves as social subjects with their own voice and fighting for their rights in order to be respected as they are, to have their culture and their (customary) rights recognized as a first step, to then advance in the integration of a multicultural society and in the construction of a pluricultural State. In the case of Mexico, there have been advances and setbacks in this regard, since currently there is an article 2 of the Political Constitution that partially recognizes the culture and rights of indigenous peoples, but no regulatory law has been drafted and despite the fact that the old National Indigenous Institute changed its name to the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, the Mexican State continues to practice an old-fashioned indigenous policy, that is, one of an assistance nature that does not allow for a different relationship than before, between the State and indigenous peoples. What is the underlying problem? This is what this work tries to elucidate, putting on the table a series of points for discussion.