Abstract

TORRES-MAZUERA, Gabriela. Nurturing the Ambiguity of the Commons. The New and Contested Meanings of the Mexican Ejido in the Neoliberal Era. Rev. colomb. antropol. [online]. 2015, vol.51, n.1, pp.27-51. ISSN 0486-6525.

This paper is about the meanings of the postrevolutionary ejido in contemporary Mexico and the processes of privatization and commodification that have transformed this form of landtenure over the past four decades. The ejido was designed to fulfill a social function being the main asset to which any ejidatario was entitled. A legal neoliberal reform in 1992 overthrew many of the ideological principles of the postrevolutionary regime and allowed the opening of the ejido sector to the market economy. Despite ejido land circulation in a legal real estate market, ejidatarios have established a set of vernacular regulations that emphasize the collective interest over the individual interest and that also limit real estate speculation. This response has widened, within the Mexican ejidos, the gap between the Law, local rules and social practices.

Keywords : privatization; ejido; neoliberal reform; land commodification; regulation plurality.

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