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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7327-7890
AccessType
Campus-Only Access for Five (5) Years
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Anthropology
Year Degree Awarded
2022
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Emiliana Cruz
Second Advisor
Jacqueline Urla
Third Advisor
Kiran Asher
Fourth Advisor
Rachel Sieder
Subject Categories
Social and Cultural Anthropology | Women's Studies
Abstract
This dissertation examines the persistent crisis of gender-based violence in Mexico, particularly as it affects indigenous women in the P’urhépecha region in the state of Michoacán. Through participatory research methods and in-depth analysis of policies, the dissertation explores the persisting disarticulations between the State’s discourses and policies on security and women’s everyday experiences of vulnerability and violence. The objective of the study is to determine how the connection between processes of securitization, the presence of violent actors, and the development of projects of local governance are having an impact on the everyday experiences of P’urhépecha women, and to examine some of the alternative security strategies women in this region have developed in response. In this context, this research project analyzes the efforts of P’urhépecha women to access security and justice in a scenario of extractive, political, and social violence. I argue that in a scenario where communities are crossed by a series of multidimensional forms of violence, it is crucial to understand the impact that these insecurities have on women. Through this approach, the dissertation examines the multiple and intersecting events that are taking place across the region, how they have an impact on both the everyday lives of P’urhépecha women and their experiences of (in)security, and finally, how many of the insecurities they face reinforce one another. To explore the gendered dimensions of violence and security in this context, the dissertation project is grounded on an analysis of the state and its legal apparatus as it relates to indigenous autonomy, women’s rights, collective organization, and identity. Through what I name an unsettled feminist ethnography of (in)security, the dissertation sheds light on the interpersonal, intracommunal, structural, and historical nature that underpins violence against Indigenous women.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/28593080
Recommended Citation
Del Conde, Ana, "Violence and Indigenous Women in Mexico: Towards an Unsettled Feminist Ethnography of (in)Security" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations. 2513.
https://doi.org/10.7275/28593080
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/2513