Mexico is not for Beginners: a postscript to 'Intercultural Universities'

8/18/2019 Mexico is not for Beginners: a postscript to 'Intercultural Universities'

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Mexico is not for beginners: a postscript to ‘InterculturalUniversities’1

In November 2013 I publishe an article in the Journal of Latin

American Studies !"ehmann 2013# $hich containe an account ofintervie$s I conucte at various times bet$een 200% an 2010$ith teaching sta& at Mexico’s Intercultural Universities !UIs#' (hefocus of the article $as on ‘$hat the) thought the) $ere oing’* anabove all $hat the) unerstoo b) ‘interculturalia’' +uring m)conversations I ha been forcibl) struc, b) the seriousness an thein-uiring minset $ith $hich m) interlocutors approache thesub.ect an the iea: the article claims that sie/b)/sie $ith theintercultural agena or iscourse* these iniviuals $ere inspire b)the issient counter/traition of popular eucation carrie for$arin "atin merica b) the basista church uner the inuence of"iberation (heolog) !"ehmann 10* "evine 2012#* b) numerousN4 pro.ects an b) eucators in the school of 5aulo 6reire* an inMexico b) a string of pro.ects an political movements inspire b)existing an former clerg)* notabl) 7esuits'

In 4ctober 2018 I $ent to 9alapa to ta,e part in a ‘6oro’ of theIntercultural Universities !Tercer Foro: Investigación Vinculada en lasUniversidades Interculturales* 10/12 4ctober 2018#' I also ha theopportunit) to rea a ne$ 5h+ thesis from I;


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focus on iscourse in conucting an reporting ethnographicresearch'

Highlevel !olitical su!!ort d"indles

(he favourable environment laste onl) through the 6oxaministration: $hen alerCn too, oJce in 200G the )namic$omen $ho ha le the +I !9ochitl alveB# an the ;ID !


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institution complaine bitterl) that the integrating them $ithteaching in the context of vinculación # the insertion of research into

unergrauate courses at ever) level' In other $ors the


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(o some extent the UIs* although escribe as universities* aresimilar to these other institutions since the) amit stuents at thesame stage of their eucational progression !though often olerthan the average# $ho for the most part o not -ualif) forconventional universities* an the) o&er vocational courses: their

istinctive features are* obviousl)* the intercultural component as$ell as the vinculación emphasise in m) 2013 paper' (heseelements $hich to an outsier unfamiliar $ith the context ofMexico’s gargantuan eucational s)stem seeme to be istinctivefeatures of the UIs* have been ta,en up b) the bachilleratosinterculturales rst evelope in 2002 b) the ;ID an also b) theevelopment of an intercultural component in the mainstreambachillerato ,no$n as ‘Dachillerato general con ;nfo-ueIntercultural’ !‘eneral bachillerato $ith an Intercultural pproach#$hich seems to converge $ith the stan/alone Dachilleratointercultural: this is either a teacher training -ualication earne b)stuents at the ‘5repas’* or a course re-uire prior to entr) touniversit)' 5reparatorias Interculturales exist in certain states: theone in (abasco has prouce seven generations of grauates since200TR there are three establishments in hihuahua* one each in


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man) of $hom have Masters an occasionall) octoral egrees'6urthermore* as unther +ietB has pointe out to me* the) areoverseen simultaneousl) > but not .ointl) / b) the ;ID $hichoversees the content of the eucation the) o&er* an the pac,aging formulas of Ma)an ,no$lege toimpart them to Ma)a stuents in classrooms / an also $hen the)hol tightl) to their o$n ieas about ‘organiBation’ an‘sustainabilit)’* or $hen the) are over/concerne $ith instilling‘cognitive s,ills’ an ‘critical thin,ing’ !p' 128# at the expense oftraitional forms of learning through social relationships' 6or him theintercultural imension eucation is expresse in the peagogicalrelationship itself as much as in the content of $hat is learnt' Dut hiscase stu) is not* as he reail) amits* reall) one of a universit) >rather it is of a venture in ault eucation encouraging the

evelopment of local leaers* so the relationships an expectations*as compare $ith the UIs* are ver) i&erent' Shen stuents arepeople of a certain age* experience as farmers an organiBers* anfollo$ing a tailore course of stu) !in this case an 1O/month+iploma# rather than )ounger people living a$a) from home anstu)ing full time for a universit) -ualication $hich the) hope $illlea to a ecent .ob* the relationship has to be i&erent' "lanes is agoo* though perhaps selfconscious* representative of a ilemma:he is committe to the propagation !I hesitate to use the $or‘teaching’# of other ,no$leges* )et he is also suspicious of those

G "lanes 4rtiB* op' cit' !200O#O !"lanes 4rtiB 200#

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$ho $oul ma,e them into rea)/mae pac,ages* an he is criticalof the facilitators $ho o not call into -uestion their o$nassumptions* even $hile challenging those of their auience' isunerl)ing commitment* in m) reaing* is to an eucation $hichlistens an oes not impose rea)/mae cultural constructions >

least of all $hen the) are constructions of a $orl an of perhapsbelief s)stems $hich belong to the stuents rather than to theteachers' (he t$o $ors $hich therefore come to min in labellinghis approach are ‘emocraticR’ an ‘universalist’'

Anthro!olog$ and the UIs

It is strange to observe that in spite of their commitment to theinclusion of inigenous ,no$lege in their curricula* the relationshipbet$een the state/sponsore intercultural pro.ect an the Mexicananthropological profession is so istant as to be almost non/existent' (he Mexican anthropological profession $as in e&ect a epartmentof the government until the earl) 1G0s* operating in the vastapparatus of the IN !Instituto Nacional e ntropolog=a e istoria*!currentl) responsible for ‘1OG archaeological sites throughout thecountr)’# an its o&shoot the ;scuela Nacional e ntropolog=a eistoria !;N* a higher eucation institution evote toarchaeolog) an anthropolog)#' In the $a,e of the stuent uprisingof 1%O !culminating in the massacre of (latelolco an a further one*

the orpus hristi massacre* in 1G1#* an in the context of$orl$ie shift in the culture of anthropolog) an the socialsciences uring that perio* Mexican anthropolog) also too, a turn*le b) a group of issients $ho came to be ,no$n as the ‘6ourorsemen’* in reference to the 6our orsemen of the pocal)pse:ngel 5alerm* uillermo Donl* rturo Sarman an Koolfo


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estabiliBe b) the arrival* uninvite* of a senior state governmentoJcial* the +irector e ;ucaciCn Meia ) Meia ‘-ualit)’ being sarcasticall) place in -uotes inthe original' 6or him cultures o not exist as ob.ects or bloc,s* an

the essentialiBation of inigenous cultures is a evice to epoliticiBeor neutraliBe inigenous actors $ith specic political interests' Shenthe authorities pronounce on $hat is goo an ba politics an $hatis the correct t)pe of interculturalia* the) are aopting the sameol colonial position' e $oul rather spea, of ‘portaores eculturas’* iniviuals $ho prouce an reprouce culturalorientations $hich o not al$a)s t stereot)pes an iealiBeversions'1G In this* it seems to me* his aversion to authoritarianimposition an evelopmentalism has in the en brought him rounto a liberal position similar to that of* sa) nthon) ppiah or


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"lanes’ position* $hich I highlight here because he is almost the onl)anthropologist in Mexico !except for unther +ietB* $ho is aprominent UI insier# to have confronte these -uestions in thecontext of the UIs* is not inconsistent anal)ticall)* but it su&ers froma lac, of appreciation of the bargains $hich have to be struc, if the

state is to become involve in issues of ethnicit) an cultural rebirthan legitimation' (he ;ID oJcial > $hose goo$ill he repeatel)recogniBes > $as not tal,ing about theoretical or ieologicalcorrectness' D) ‘ba politics’ she meant $hat mericans call ‘por,’:the real political pressures $hich arise $hen the government arrivesbearing gifts > an inee that is $hat the intervention of the stateoJcial $as largel) about: the to$n of @allaoli an the ;ucation


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6or her research* conucte as of 200* ?arla @ivar conucteextensive intervie$s $ith 2% stuents in four oJcial an oneunoJcial UI* an also recore conversations $ith Kectors anteachers'


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$hich ran some courses provie b) politicall) s)mpatheticvolunteers from UNM an other institutions' $ell place sourcealso claime that the UNI


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6Lbregas’ removal but he pleae $ith them not to because it $oulput his o$n person in anger* an preferre to escribe hiseparture as a resignation for health reasons'

(he MichoacLn UI !UIIM# has accoring to ?arla @ivar an others also

been through a che-uere histor)* $ith barel) 8 people completingtheir egrees !‘titulaos’# in its entire ten/)ear life' pparentl) oneof the Kectors > $ho is -uote b) ?arla @ivar $ith an impressivecomman of multicultural .argon > appointe several of hismistresses to positions > an abuse of po$er $hich then reboune*leaing to stuent revolt an his removal' (he thesis escribesenless conicts* emonstrations an notes the presence of acocaine processing plant next oor to the universit)'

(he incients can be multiplie* but it $oul be unfair to generaliBethem an $rong to .ump to the conclusion that the UIs are a failureor a nest of corruption' It $oul also be $rong not to mention the$iel) hel vie$ that the conventional state universities in Mexicoare also rile $ith corruption > an the) are the vast ma.orit) ofuniversities apart from the UNM* the U5N* the 5olitcnico an theprivate institutions li,e the Iberoamericana an the (ecnolCgico eMonerre)' Dut the examples o point to their insecure institutionalbasis: m) article betra)e nothing of this because I too, it forgrante that the) ha at least a core of stable emplo)ees* but itturns out that the) have no secure emplo)ees at all: ever)one is ona one )ear contract at most* even aministrative sta& an even

those emplo)e b) the Universia @eracruBana Intercultural !U@I#$hich* uni-uel)* is ensconce $ithin the autonomous Universia@eracruBana > a conventional* or mainstream* universit)' Dut in an)case* espite the apparent protection o&ere b) universit)autonom)* the U@I is also vulnerable* as illustrate b) the fate of anallocation of 1'T million pesos in 2018 from the 6eeral overnment$hich* accoring to reliable source* $as $a)lai b) the


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stanars more suite to their purpose an to the eucationalbac,groun of their stuent constituenc)'

The meaning and resonance of ,intercultural-

6urther inications of the intellectual ferment surrouning the UIs* orsimpl) the presence of the intercultural pro.ect* can be foun amongthe intervie$s reprouce in ?arla @ivar’s thesis' $hile others* to be sure* express isappointment$ith the )sfunctional aspects of the UIs $here the) have stuie*or $here the) began to stu)' 4ne feature $hich oes emerge fromher intervie$s is that for stuents often the $or interculturaliarefers to the institutions as a $hole* to the mere fact of theirexistence* as much as to the intercultural vocation or imension asmanifeste in the teaching content' 6or them the $or ‘intercultural’meant an opportunit) to stu) an the) sometimes spo,e of it asentailing not merel) the chance to get a .ob but to some extent anentitlement to a .ob' ence the campaign to get the government ofhiapas to allo$ the UNI grauates to compete for schoolteaching positions even though these positions $ere normall)reserve for grauates of the Universia 5eagCgica Nacional!U5N#'

Nevertheless "oures asillas conrme the main thrust of the

argument of m) paper* namel) that the practice of interculturalia*in aition to the philosoph) or ethos of interculturalia $hich isthe sub.ect of so much anguishe ebate* o$e much to theissient eucational traition of 5aulo 6reire an the 7esuitsinspire b) 5ablo "atap=’s entro e ;stuios ;ucativos in Mexicoit)* man) of $hom* li,e "atap= himself* left hol) orers butcontinue to be involve $ith the causes the) ha espouse $henfull) committe members of the


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pro.ect of interculturalism’'23 (his can serve as a starting point forthe follo$ing iscussion in $hich I use the $or, of unther +ietBan "aura again ‘the Sest’ versus inigenous traitions not* sa)* Sestern;uropean culture versus Kussian culture / are i&erent an shoul

be e-uall) respecte'

lthough I o not claim to be a philosopher* m) unerstaning isthat epistemolog) la)s the basis for philosophical reasoning* antries to ans$er the -uestion ‘on $hat grouns can )ou sa) that )ou,no$ $hat )ou claim to ,no$V’ ;vientl) if someone sa)s that the)learnt from their granparents an that is enough* then it $ill behar for them to persuae others $ho o not share theirpresuppositions* unless the) can sho$ that there is something aboutgranparenthoo $hich eno$s them $ith special expertise' (hiscan $ell be the case since granparents have experience $hich

goes $ith their role* but it is unli,el) to be convincing in the case ofmeical treatment or plant genetics' (o put it another $a)* an inamittel) stereot)pe terms: $e can easil) allo$ that time/honoure practices hone over generations an centuries ma) bee&ective in agriculture an in treating malaies* but that oes notmean to sa) those $ho use those practices have a i&erentepistemolog)* or inee an) epistemolog) at all' It is onl) b)introucing the apparatus of Sestern epistemolog) that one caniscuss the reasons $h) those practices $or,' 6or people in astereot)picall) traitional culture authorit) lies in the person not in

the theor) an the inherite practices' et $e ,no$ perfectl) $ell23 !onBaleB poaca 200#

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that there is no longer an) such thing as an untouche ‘traitional’societ) as represente in the stereot)pe* an therefore $e can allshare an epistemolog): $e shoul be able to iscuss rationall) thereasons $h) certain practices $or, an others o not on a basisother than the) have been hane o$n or have been blesse b) a

particular person !a Kabbi* a soothsa)er or inee celebrit) secularintellectuals#' (he i&erence > an it is a ver) important one > is thatin moern global science* there are impersonal institutions $hichcertif) expertise an $hich claim to ma,e ecisions free from thebiases of traition* politics an personal relations' (hose institutionsma,e mista,es an the) are far from perfect > as $e can observe inthe haphaBar operation of ‘peer revie$’ in the humanities ansocial sciences* an as $e learn from critical social stuies ofscience associate $ith names li,e Druno "atour' Dut still* theseinstitutions represent a continuous commitment to n rationalimpersonal an culturall) impartial bases for iscussion* an the)are vulnerable to criticism if the) o no$ persist in that search' (heproof* if such $ere neee* is the proliferation of peer/revie$escholarship enouncing them an all their $or,s as Sestern ancolonial' Se must remember that this raical oubt is itself aprouct of Sestern institutions* an has not come from non/Sesterncultures'

+ietB an "aura Mateos sometimes seem to ta,e these positions*but then the) nuance them substantiall)' (he) -uote variousecolonial authorities !Mignolo* Aui.ano# in support of a pro.ect to

ecoloniBe ,no$lege an to encourage ‘Xotra eucaciCnW*XeucaciCn propiaW* an XeucaciCn intercultural inuctivaW' Dut itemerges eventuall) that this oes not mean that such an eucationshoul be culturall) i&erent in an) strong sense* but rather that itmust ta,e into account all sorts of i&erences an above all thelocal circumstances of learning an ,no$lege transfer in societieseepl) ivie along man) faultlines* of $hich linguistic an culturali&erences are onl) t$o'

5lacing ieas in the polemical an political context in $hich the)emerge is essential even to iscussions of principle* an the

historiciBation of interculturalit) gets reall) interesting $hen theirboo, focuses on the changing social an territorial locations ofinigenous people an the changing roles of their intelligentsia' (heauthors istance themselves from the caricature !$hich noanthropologist $oul efen but $hich much public an polic)iscourse assumes# assigning inigenous people to remote ruralareas an implicitl) ening inigenous eucation as coterminous$ith bilingual eucation' (he) remin us that as a result of $hatthe) escribe as the neoliberal abanonment of communities* thepeople $ho once $ent o& to $or, as teachers for the state or too,

up roles as intermeiaries an bro,ers in inigenous agencies anorganiBations in the expectation of improving their o$n lot an that

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of their communities of origin* have been returning to communitiesan have stimulate a rebirth of inigenous organiBation uner theparaoxicall) favourable circumstances of state $ithra$al'Shether or not this has that much to $ith neoliberalism an thepurporte unleashing of mar,et forces in rural areas* it oes help us

to ma,e better sense of an apparent revival of local inigenousorganiBation* $hich has ta,en place inepenentl)* $ithoutexpression at the national level* an separatel) from the moremeiatic Papatistas' It also ts in $ith +avi Kecono’s anal)sis ofthe introuction of ‘usos ) costumbres’ in 4axaca'28 (his involve alarge scale exercise in the 10s enabling all of 4axaca’s TG0municipalities to choose bet$een continuing $ith ‘part) list’elections or aopting a ‘traitional’ $a) base on local customs' (hefascinating an counter/intuitive outcome $as that not onl) thema.orit) chose the ‘usos ) costumbres’ path* but also that* b)etaching them > to var)ing egrees* of course > from the opa-ueeals of the ol single/part) s)stem in $hich the 5KI i eals $ithlocal notables an there $as never more than one caniate > it leto a moerniBation of the electoral processes* overseen b) the4axaca state ;lectoral ommission* $ith more openness' (herehave been ‘incients’* notabl) over $omen’s participation* but the)have been resolve in favour of the $omen* an the metho is notal$a)s base on a one/person/one/vote proceure* but the point isthat* unli,e before* there is a proceure'

(hus a ne$ ‘isiencia in=gena’ is reviving communit) institutions*

an since accoring to +ietB an Mateos for most inios belongingto a communit) is far more than important belonging to a Zgrupoetnico/linguistico’* this has brought a shift to$ars comunalidad rather than cultural particularism' +espite occasional urries ofcultural romanticism > as in allusions to local cosmovisions* ritualsan so on !op' cit' p' 12# > the thrust of their argument is in favourof local emocratiBation* eucational methos attune to angaining insights from local conitions* an recognition of nationalan local cultural variation* thus re.ecting an) ,in of culturalessentialism'2T (here is even a no to the "atin merican school ofpopular eucation $ith its universalistic ethos an focus on

empo$erment an learning from the people* $hose inuence in the

28 !Kecono 200G#'2T (hus the famous ‘iLlogo e saberes’ formula so ear to thevanguar of postcolonialit)* is foregroune* but immeiatel)-ualie b) the observation that the) fee from heterogeneoussources !‘nutrinose e mu) heterogneas fuentes’ p' 1%# etc'an the) -uote the environmental economist ;nri-ue "e& as follo$s:‘;l iLlogo e saberes [ apunta a la proucciCn !mLs -ue lagenerativia Cntico/epistmica/cient=ca/tecnolCgica# e nuevasformas e comprensiCn el muno -ue emergen e la ialCgica elintercambio e saberes ) e la isputa e sentios en lareapropiaciCn social e la naturaleBa ) e la cultura’' !"e& 2003#

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UIs $e have alrea) encountere'2% (he authors escribe ho$acaemics in intercultural higher eucation navigate bet$een theuniversal an the ethnic $hile the practitioners inspire b) "atinmerican popular eucation -uestion externall) riveninterculturalia an promote local empo$erment'2G

enner "lanes* an some of the authorities he -uotes* also ta,etrouble to avoi polariBing or binar) opposition: for example KaFl6ornet/Dittencourt* the philosopher most prominentl) associate$ith interculturalia* $hom he -uotes at length* seems at pains toavoi ta,ing a position on this -uestion' 2O ;ven atherine Salsh* aleaing ecolonial authorit)* spea,s of interculturalit) as a ‘pluraluniversalism’* an "lanes himself $rites of the nee to ‘go be)onthe essentialist use of the cultural practices an to explore moreorganic processes of cultural prouction '''’2 n $hen it comes toescribing the ieas of a former priest inspire b) the ‘theolog) ofinculturation’* $ho see,s to reinstitute of Ma)a rites an

2% ‘este iseQo carecer=a e sentio prLctico para los miembros ela comunia en cuestiCn si no se articulara estrechamente con laintercultura e los recursos exCgenos* -ue pueen ser funcionales )apropiables para los actors locales ) provenir e un curr=culumnacional o e otras XofertasW culturales proporcionaas por loscircuitos globaliBaos’ !pp' 188/18T#2G "a tensiCn bipolar entre inigenismo ) normalismo* entreparticularismo tnico ) universalismo nacionalista* la superan estosactors \i'e' the acaemics / +"] meiante la importaciCn e uniscurso esesencialiBao* constructivista ) transversaliBaor e lainterculturalia' omo sinCnimo e Xiversia e iversiaesW*sus respectivas pantallas ree.an una nociCn abierta ) inLmica elo intercultural* -ue se mantiene e forma ialCgica* reexiva )autocr=tica mLs allL e la icotom=a ientitaria in=gena/mestiBo' 5orFltimo* los actores -ue promueven pro)ectos alternativos )YoXautCnomosW e eucaciCn intercultural emuestran una cercan=ainicial al iscurso intercultural proveniente e los acamicosinuios por los moelos ) ebates eucativos e origen

latinoamericano' caban generano iscursos alternativos* muchomLs cr=ticos con la interculturalia exCgena ) mLs enfocaos haciael empoeramiento e los su.etos subalternos* e las comuniaescon las -ue colaboran' ;llo conu)e en un inters por nocionesialCgicas -ue partan el reconocimiento e la iversia no comouna estrategia peagCgica Xpara toosW* sino antes -ue naa comoun erecho e los actores colectivos histCricamente excluios )iscriminaos' !p' 1%1/1%2#'

2O "lanes !200# pp' /10'


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cosmovision* "lanes expresses a high egree of s,epticism'30

(hus $e en up $ith an approach to the intercultural $hich is baseon the multiple criss/crossing iviing lines in Mexican societ):cultural an linguistic** to be sure* but also political* territorial* an

socio/economic' Inee* the authors are critical of the Zinigena/noinigenaZ binar) an of the bias of interculturalia to$arsinigeneit) an its ini&erence or isinterest in non/inigenousstuents* as $ell as critical of its lac, of attention to racialiscrimination > a sub.ect $hich is sensitive because it tens tofavour universalistic an iniviualist responses rather thancorporatist an collective ones base on some sort of politics ofrecognition' (here is also an implicit recognition that to restrictcultural i&erences $hich eucation shoul ta,e into account tothose ientiable as ethnic an inigenous* is to ignore thelongstaning evience of the cultural chasm bet$een socio/economic groups an its eleterious e&ects in eucation* asclassicall) ocumente b) Dasil Dernstein an 5ierre Dourieu'

4ne noticeable iron) in these ebates is the ambiguous response toneoliberalism* because there is no escaping the repeate allusionsto the oppressive omination an manipulation of inigeneit) ancommunal institutions in the he)a) of the 5KI !the ‘comuniarevolucionaria institutional’ again31#' (he e.io $as so rounl)enounce an issecte b) anthropologists as an instrument ofomination an also for creating ine-ualit)* that some of them such

as rturo Sarman32

even .oine in its ismantling uring the


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in.ustice an ine-ualit)* it prouce niches enabling them to obtaina fe$ crumbs from the table'38 It ma) also be that the +ietB/Mateosapproach o&ers a $a) out of the false ilemma pose b) those $ho*unerstanabl) critical of the ravages $rea,e b) mar,et/frienl)policies in some parts of the $orl* seem to avocate a return to the

corporatist habits of co/optation an free/riing $hich haveinstitutionaliBe illiberal politics in "atin merica an else$here'

I for m) part am far from convince* espite the hopes of some anthe fears of others* that the a)s of corporatism are over* as+eborah ashar gave us to believe'3T case can be mae thatinitiatives such as the intercultural universities constitute acorporatist agena more than a neoliberal one because* $hateverthe intentions of their founers* the) t in to a schema $hereb)"atin merican governments create niches $ithin the state forleaers of emerging social forces* as occurre notabl) $ith the riseof a $or,ing class in the inter/$ar perio' In this case* as it happens*+ietB an Mateos escribe a contrar) movement: theisenchantment of inigenous leaers $ho have ha an experienceas state/supporte or state/recogniBe intermeiaries an return tocommunit) politics to engage in local emocratiBation' Dut theIntercultural Universities ma) in the en constitute a co/optativemechanism for them or for others li,e them' 4nl) time $ill tell'Nevertheless I o not $ish to impl) that this corporatist aspectshoul iscreit the $hole pro.ect: corporatism is so eepl)entrenche in the structures of "atin merican states that there is

no prospect of its extirpation* save perhaps in hile* an it can beefene as an e&ort on the part of elites to preserve a moicum ofsocial cohesion'

(hat* ho$ever* is another iscussion: m) purpose here has been toclarif) the ebate over interculturalia an to point out thatespite the use of some language $hich might lea one to thin,other$ise* the intercultural pro.ect in general* an as presente b)+ietB an Mateos* oes t $ith an unerl)ing universalist agena'

.ethodolog$

4ne reason for $riting this post/scriptum is to raise the -uestion ofthe reliabilit) of ethnographies' (he article $as revie$e b) threeperfectl) competent an reasonable people* but none of themseeme to ,no$ much about the UIs* an the) faile to notice -uitespecic mista,es* such as the statement that the UIs $ere at thetime sub.ect to the same -ualit) oversight s)stem !re-uiring themto formulate a 5I6I programme# as that of other Mexicanuniversities* or the remar, that the universities’ certication is aconition for stuents to receive their small subsistence grants'

38 !ale 2002#3T !ashar 200T#

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Dut those are matters of etail' (he most thorn) an embarrassing-uestion is: to $hat extent can one trust ethnographies* an to $hatextent can m) o$n ethnograph) be trusteV

(he trust$orthiness of m) ethnograph) has to be consiere fromseveral points of vie$: !a# are m) -uotations an summaries faithfulto $hat actuall) $as saiV !b# are the) representative of an)thingexcept $hat those iniviuals sai at that timeV !c# $as I na^ve ori I $ilfull) ,eep to the safe area of acaemic iscussion ofinterculturalia* choosing to avoi the politicsV

I i not spen an extene perio of time in an) of theseinstitutions' Kather m) intention $as to visit several of them tointervie$ teaching sta&* an also to spea, $ith polic)ma,ers to gaina sense of the UI pro.ect as a $hole' (his $as in the context of apro.ect $hose focus $as ver) clearl) on the sprea of multiculturalieas in "atin merica' Inee* it $as onl) after spening some timein Mexico that I happene upon the UIs an* given the constraintson m) time an the ris, that the scope of the in-uir) $oul expanuncontrollabl)* ecie that this relativel) ne$ experiment o&erethe prospect of a compact an fruitful case stu)'


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(he rare conversations I ha $ith stuents $ere frame perhapsmore as meetings $ith a visiting foreign acaemic than as researchintervie$s* as evience b) the allusions to Papatista politics in themeeting I ha in as innumerable classicanthropological stuies of small/scale societies an communitieshave one' Nonetheless* I coul harl) claim it $as a coherent or$atertight minset / $hat I escribe $as one minset* $ith hintsof others'3% In the UIs I $as listening for $ors an sentences $hichexpresse governing principles or ieas in the eplo)ment ofinterculturalia as an iea an an eucational pro.ect' (hisinvolve a substantial element of .ugment an intuition in teasingout $ors or phrases $hich tene to be repeate or to be use as‘rea)/mae’ or in $a)s $hich allue to programmatic statementsor messages' It $as in this $a) that the prominence of vinculaciónemerge: a $or $hich > as I later iscovere / ha simpl) meant‘$or, experience’ or ‘internship’ in the (ecnolCgicos* no$ ac-uire amore politiciBe or perhaps ‘culturaliBe’ connotation evo,ing

contact $ith the grassroots or a rene$e contact b) stuents ofrecent inigenous bac,groun $ith the traitions of their o$npeople'

s a researcher loo,ing for material relevant to m$ pro.ect I teneto encourage intervie$ees to tal, about $hat concerne me* not$hat $orrie them' If I ha given a lea on more political sub.ects Imight have lost faith in m) pro.ect an that in turn $oul havemeant recogniBing that I $as $asting m) time' (he incentive for theresearcher* once el$or, has begun* is to persist on thepath$hich has been selecte' I ma) have convince m)self that for

the people I spo,e to interculturalia $as almost the mostimportant thing in their lives' I i not give them leas to spea,about their conitions of emplo)ment* their salaries or their

3% I aopte a similar proceure a fe$ )ears ago $hen* $ith Datia


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professional insecurities > sub.ects I thought to be irrelevant an toointrusive'

It is also probabl) the case that if I ha trie to ig into the politicsof these institutions > the $a)s in $hich people $ere o&ere .obs*

conicts among sta& an $ith the Kectors / I might have met a $allof silence or evasiveness* $hile also losing the trust of intervie$ees*or I might have got into a more or less enless trail of politicalintrigue* $hich $oul have been another sub.ect' n $hat purpose$oul it have serveV I $oul have foun m)self $ith unveriableaccounts publishable* if at all* onl) uner a cloa, of eep anon)mit)' (he) $oul have been .ust another fable from the mur,) politics ofa countr) $here* in the often/repeate sa)ing* ‘ha) -ue esconarhasta e la propia sombra’'

22


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ppiah* ?' ' !200T#' (he ;thics of Ientit)' 5rinceton* 5rincetonUniversit) 5ress'

Daronnet* D' !200O#' _"a ;scuela Normal In=gena InterculturalDilingEe X7acinto ane,W'_ (K; !(ravaux et recherches ans lesmri-ues u entre#' Ketrieve T3* fromhttp:YYtrace'revues'orgY80T'

Daronnet* D' !2011#' "a -uestion e lZinterculturalit ans lesexpriences Zucation ans les terres Bapatistes' "emulticulturalisme au concret: un mo`le latinoamricainV ' rosan +' +' ?ervran' 5aris* 5resses


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+ietB* ' an "'


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"lanes 4rtiB* ' !200O#' _InterculturaliBaciCn fallia: esarrollo*neoinigenismo ) universia intercultural en ucatLn* Mxico _ (K; !(ravaux et recherches ans les mri-ues u entre#!T3#:8/%3'

"lanes 4rtiB* ' !200#' Inigenous universities an the constructionof Interculturalit): the case of the 5easant an inigenous Universit)Net$or, in ucatan* Mexico'


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@aughan* M' ?' !1G#' ultural 5olitics in Kevolution: (eachers*5easants* an

Mexico is not for Beginners: a postscript to 'Intercultural Universities'

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