The London School of Economics and Political Science The ‘Casas GEO’ movement: An ethnography of a new housing experience in Cuernavaca, Mexico María Cristina Inclán Valadez A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Environment London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, April 2013 1 Declaration of Originality I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 102, 207 words. María Cristina Inclán Valadez September, 2013 2 Abstract Through an ethnographic approach, this thesis looks at a new housing form and what is claimed to be a new urban way of life in Mexico’s neoliberal era. The study looks in detail at residents of a single housing project in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and explores how this group has struggled to construct itself as a new cultural category or what I call the Casas GEO movement. The research is guided by a series of questions: why and how did the Casas GEO movement emerge; how do residents experience a new housing project in everyday life; and, what meanings do they communicate through these everyday practices? Specifically, the research engages with recent literatures on new middle classes and approaches that consider ‘class’ as a process that grows out of cultural and “classificatory practices” (Bourdieu, 1984). The research builds on these literatures in a number of ways. First, it conceptualises the housing project as a mutable place, produced through daily interaction and a varied coexistence. Second, it understands the residential space as the arena for the emergence of a new cultural category created in everyday life through specific claims, values and symbols expressed in the urban landscape. The thesis shows how the developer, the GEO company, attempted to construct a set of individual values and codes of behaviour for residents, as an imperative to make the site liveable. But, it considers also how residents use their houses differently from the developers’ intentions through strategies of re-appropriation and personalisation in order to communicate ideas of distinction and ‘good’ taste. Importantly, residents had to deal with a range of inconsistencies, flaws and drawbacks in the project’s realisation that challenged representations of the ‘good’ city, social progress and modernity. The research shows how these failings influence people’s lives, especially their aspirations and sense of identity. My claim is that in the making of the Casas GEO movement people negotiate a cultural formation and produce a new space that allows ways of imagining, aspiring to, and modes for taking part in a modern ‘urban’ life. Yet, the making of the movement also exposes the fragility of a housing project that claims to be the formula for upward mobility of lower-income groups in Mexico. 3 Acknowledgements I am most grateful to my supervisor Gareth Jones without whose excellent supervision, constant support and commitment this thesis would not have been completed. Our meetings were challenging and the learning process was always an enriching experience, which led me to think and carry out my research differently. His constructive criticism, detailed comments and generously given time, were a greatly encouraging. Also special thanks to Claire Mercer, my second supervisor, for her encouragement and valuable comments. This research would not have been possible without the financial support of the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [CONACYT, The National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico] and the Secretaría de Salud, [SSA, Ministry of Health, Mexico]; as well as other sources of funding: The Chevening-SSA programme and the LSE Department of Geography and Environment Studentship and Travel Fund. My thanks to the Centro de Estudios Sociológicos in the Colegio de México, and in particular to Viviane Brachet, who hosted me as visiting student during the fieldwork. I am also grateful for the support of people who helped with during my fieldwork and during the write-up stage of the thesis. I owe many thanks to the residents of GEO Bosques who opened their lives, offered me friendship, time and advice. My sincere thanks to the people at Casas GEO company who provided me information and were immensely supportive of my research. I am also grateful to people from the Office of Fraccionamientos, Condominiums and Urban Complexes in Cuernavaca for clarifying my doubts on planning and housing. I would like to give special thanks to Martha Hijar at the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública [INSP, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico] for her academic and emotional support. To Melecki Khayesi for reminding me about the public health aspects of research. Thanks to Beatriz García Peralta and Arturo Ortiz-Stuck for our conversations on all relevant topics, and for reviewing draft chapters. 4 I would also like to thank to my friends from the LSE and elsewhere who supported me academically and emotionally during this my PhD process. Thanks to Alejandra Castrodad-Rodríguez, Cynthia Goytia, Joana Setzer, Andy Watkins, Paola Jirón, Mirka Negroni, Simón Uribe, Iliana Ortega-Alcázar, Sonia Roitman, Mariana López-Ortega Juan Pablo Astorga and Elisa Hidalgo. Special thanks to Héctor Miranda, Karol Yanez and Desiree Delgado for their unwavering friendship, and to my family in London, Carmen Miranda, Hannah and Simon. Special thanks to Sergio Bautista for his caring support during these years from a distance. Finally, I want to acknowledge and thank my family who supported me continuously in every since. Thanks to my parents for their strength, love and constant care, Tere and Marianna for their spiritual support, and Víctor Rosas for pushing me to complete this research. My special thanks to my sister Angélica, who gave me her unconditional support online each day. Doubtless, life goes on beyond the PhD, and it was music what rescued me at the end of this long journey and brought me back the joy of tiny things that this process seems to erase so easily. Vessko Gellev, thanks for the music, the love and the patience. 5 Table of Content DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ....................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 4 TABLE OF CONTENT .............................................................................................................................. 6 ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................................. 9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................................... 12 RESEARCH AIMS AND STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ...................................................................... 24 1 CHAPTER ONE: THE MAKING OF CLASS AND THE GEO MOVEMENT ............................... 30 1.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 30 1.2 URBAN ETHNOGRAPHIES IN MEXICO. A FOCUS ON THE URBAN POOR ................................ 32 1.3 ETHNOGRAPHIES OF THE NEW MIDDLE CLASS ................................................................ 42 1.3.1 Defining a new middle class ........................................................................ 42 1.3.2 ‘Doing’ class. A non-elite view ..................................................................... 45 1.4 A FOCUS ON AESTHETICS AS CLASS DIFFERENTIATION ...................................................... 47 1.5 HOUSES AS A SIGN OF CLASS-MAKING .......................................................................... 50 1.6 THE TRADITIONAL MIDDLE CLASSES IN MEXICO AND THE STATE ......................................... 53 1.7 NEW CLASEMEDIEROS .............................................................................................. 58 1.8 PLACING THE GEO RESIDENTS IN THE NEW MIDDLE-CLASS DEBATE .................................... 61 1.9 THE GEO MOVEMENT AS A CULTURAL CATEGORY .......................................................... 63 1.10 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 66 2 CHAPTER TWO: LIVING IN LA PRIVADA ................................................................................... 68 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 68 2.2 CUERNAVACA, A CITY IN TRANSITION ........................................................................... 68 2.3 GEO BOSQUES: AT THE PERIPHERY OF THE CITY ............................................................