Environmental violence, Water rights, and (Un) due process in northwestern Mexico

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Water-related struggles worldwide may not involve armed conflict or direct bodily harm, but they are still violent in nature. Over the past century the Yaqui Tribe has continually contested water development plans and challenged distribution schemes, seeking to regain control over its livelihoods and the production of space in its ancestral homeland. In the Mexican state of Sonora we are currently witnessing a new chapter of the violent saga around water access in the Yaqui River valley. In fighting the proposed construction of the Independencia Aqueduct, intended to transfer water from the Yaqui River to the capital city of Hermosillo, the tribe's struggles for recognition as a rightful resource holder have intensified. Paradoxically, dispossession is justified through an international human rights discourse and the relentless interrogation of indigenous authenticity aimed at delegitimizing Yaqui traditional resource claims.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)27-47
Number of pages21
JournalLatin American Perspectives
Volume42
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Indigenous people
  • Mexico
  • Political ecology
  • Water conflicts
  • Water rights

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Sociology and Political Science

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