Unequal struggles: Local politics and the entrance of transnational enterprises in Totonac communities of the Sierra Norte de Puebla (Mexico)

Abstract

This article deals with the rise of an organization which resists the imposition of a hydroelectric dam by a transnational enterprise in indigenous territory. The main points of this analysis are the tense relationships which appeared within the indigenous community, regarding power groups, factions, emerging leaders and grass-root community members. Such a study cannot be reduced to the local scene only, it has to be broadened to a detailed knowledge of the corporation itself, its global linkages as well as the type of relationships it established within the municipalities. This ethnographic study explains the successful process of territorial defense, highlighting the participation of local social actors facing recent processes of globalization. Despite unfavourable power relations, these social actors persist in their collective action.