Copyright by Korinta Maldonado 2012 The Dissertation Committee for Korinta Maldonado certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Totonac ‘Usos y Costumbres’: Racial Sensibilities and Uneven Entitlements in Neoliberal Mexico Committee: ____________________________________ Shannon Speed, Supervisor ____________________________________ Charles R Hale ____________________________________ Guillermo Padilla ____________________________________ João H. Costa Vargas ____________________________________ María Teresa Sierra Camacho ____________________________________ Luis E. Cárcamo-Huechante Totonac ‘Usos y Costumbres’: Racial Sensibilities and Uneven Entitlements in Neoliberal Mexico by Korinta Maldonado, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2012 Dedication To Griselda Tirado, Don Pedro, Don Santiago In Memoria ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I began my work in Huehuetla in the midst of what has been a long political battle between the Totonacs and local land bosses or caciques. The Totonacs never gave up, despite the ferocious violence directed towards them in response to voicing their rights as a people. The death of Griselda Tirado, local human rights activist and prominent leader of the organization touched all of us. The significance of such event transcended local politics and speaks to the global structures of power and its ever-reaching tentacles and ongoing rearticulation from which only a few benefit. This dissertation emerges out of a collective impulse to understand, to put into words the dehumanizing events and effects to which many of us are submitted. But this dissertation also seeks to put into words the multiple acts that make us be human; acts of love, charity, and solidarity. I am grateful to have shared and accompanied Totonac women and men in the search for a better future for all. You taught me so much. Thank you Griselda, Edmundo, María, Pedro, Pancho, Migue, José, Chundo, Don Manuel, Don Santiago, Hilaria, Doña Nena, Rosa, Salvador, Alma, José M., Claudia, Lupita, Liz, the Carmelitas Descalzas nuns that received me so many times in their home and all the compañeras and compañeros that made my stay in Huehuetla a life experience. I also want to thank the Totonac women and men of Huehuetla who let me into their homes, families, and worlds, particularly the Valencia family who essentially adopted me and showed me the intricacies of Totonac family life. I was able to share with them wonderful and deeply painful moments. I know that Don Pedro v Valencia will forever be part of each one of us who had the privilege of interacting with him, although he is no longer with us. The Indigenous Court authorities and staff opened their second home, the court, to me. The privilege of walking endless hours, watching them debate over a court resolutions, learning the hardship of running a court with little resources, eating and sharing meals on the daily basis taught me so much about what justice looks like in the eyes of Totonac women and men. I learned so much while accompanying this particular process. I am grateful to have encountered great people like them. My academic and activist path began at home, in Mexico City. Friends, colleagues, and professors there always made sure to encourage me in my scholarly path. I especially thank CIESAS D.F. for the ongoing support of young scholars like me. I always felt at home there. I thank María Teresa Sierra; a wonderful friend and teacher who has encouraged me and seen me grow through out my academic career. She was responsible for introducing me to the highlands of Puebla. They seduced immediately. I thank her for her encouragement and for being such a great example for me and other women anthropologist. Francois Lartigue is another important professor and friend in my life whom encouragement and support made my dissertation what it is today. Adriana Terven is a colleague, friend, and an important compañera during my fieldwork years. I love her analytical gaze and devotion to her research. Her sense of humor and commitment to the communities of the highlands definitely kept me from resigning at times that processes made no sense. I thank my dear friends from my high school years who have made life full of colors and laughter, passion and commitment. Julieta, Mariana, Stefanie, María, Ana, vi Gaby, y Alejandra. Thank your for accompanying me in this long life journey even if form afar. In particular, I thank Alejandra a dear friend but also a long time intellectual partner with whom dreams of equality never seem to far fetch. My friends from one of the most formative times in my life also play an important part in this work as the knowledge I have accumulated has always been in conversation with others. Thank you Gabriel, Itzam, Tania, Mariana C., Violeta, Juan Manuel, Gutty, Jean Frederick, Elsie, Elin, Norma, and the Osuna family. In Austin I have many people and friends to thank: Susy my dear friend and partner in crime, Lynn, Mariana, Pablo, Nancy, Mireya, Teresa V., Heather, María and all my cohort who made Austin such a great place. Vivian Newdick I will never forget the endless favors she made for me while I was afar. I cannot recount the many moments she provided emotional support through out these last years as we both embarked in the serious tasks of writing a dissertation while raising a young toddler. We share the great joys of giving birth twice. I want to thank the Activist Anthropology program for leading such an important work and creating the space for students to critically think about our tasks and responsibilities as anthropologists beyond the academy. I could have not been in a better place. I am indebted to Shannon Speed my advisor who despite my many challenging moves and unusual academic paths supported me until the end. I am whole-heartedly grateful for her academic guidance and input through my career. Charles Hale, Joao Costa Vargas, María Teresa Sierra, Luis Cárcamo-Huechante, Guillermo Padilla, guided and supported me in building my critical thinking. I thank them for that and I hope to keep the conversation going. vii I am deeply grateful to the anthropology department of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who for the past six years provided me with a collegial space to write and to exchange ideas. I particularly want to thank Andy Orta, Alejandro Lugo, Ellen Moodie, and Charles Roseman for their support. While writing the dissertation, I had the privilege of joining writing group who provided me with critical feedback and friendship. To my friends Maritza, Martina, Edna and Sunil who make this little town Urbana-Champaign a wonderful place. Thank you Isabel Scarborough and William Girard for your sharp comments. I will always cherish those great conversations at Café Paradiso. Lourdes Guitierrez Najera and Edna Viruell-Fuentes provided me with endless intellectual support and structure when despair and panic came abound. This dissertation would have not been possible with out the financial assistance from numerous institutions and programs including the William and Flora Hewlett Doctoral Field Research Fellowship in the Social Sciences, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship (FLAS), the Tinker Summer Research Grant of University of Texas at Austin, the E.D. Farmer Fellowship, the Mexican Center at University of Texas at Austin, the International Fellowship from the National Council of Technology and Science (CONACYT), Mexico, the Program of Graduate Fellowship in the Social Sciences funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. To my father Héctor who pushes me to be the best I can. His help allowed me to accomplish my dreams. Thank you. To my mother Luz María encourages me to follow my passion and always reminds me that life is what you make of it. My dear sister Helena who received me, and my multiple crews in Mexico and made sure I felt at home. With viii out her this project would have never been finished. To my brothers Santiago, Emiliano, and Martin have in so many ways been present through out this journey. Lastly, my husband Gilberto Rosas read multiple drafts, edited and provided me with loving support through out. There are no words for his endless love and support. I have watch him grow into a strong and confident scholar and its his trajectory and dedication that inspire my scholarship. In our journey as students and scholars we have brought to the world one of our biggest joys of our lives our son Teo. I thank him for grounding me and showing me the joys of a simple life. ix Totonac ‘Usos y Costumbres’: Racial Sensibilities and Uneven Entitlements in Neoliberal Mexico Korinta Maldonado, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Shannon Speed This dissertation investigates the pernicious effects of neoliberalism in postcolonial, ostensibly post-racial Mexico. I analyze and thickly describe the daily negotiations of race in neoliberal Mexico, as they play out between indigenous Totonacs and Mestizos, or dominant, non-indigenous, non-Black identity, in a small town in central Mexico. I focus specifically on the discursive and material life of indigenous “traditions and customs,” or usos y costumbres that reverberate within and around an Indigenous Court in Huehuetla, Puebla. Usos y costumbres is the core concept around which indigenous rights revolve and the legal justification of the indigenous courts. As such it becomes the arena of struggle and a key site to investigate power relations and social transformations. First, I analyze and chart how Mestizo authorities, Indigenous Court officials, and Totonac community members struggle to fix, define, and redefine the meaning of usos y costumbres, and consequently shift local racial sensibilities and perceptions of self and others.