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Civil Society and Political Representation in Mexico

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Civil Society and Political Representation in Latin America (2010-2015)

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Yo Soy 132 Movement (MY132), a social movement of university students that took place during the presidential elections of 2012 in Mexico. It analyzes first how the corporatist regime inhibited political parties’ capacities of social representation, both in terms of dialogue and as a bridge to institutionalize demands and social conflict. Thus, the MY132 is studied as (a) a generational manifestation of the need for new political identities to those offered by corporatism, (b) a problem of bridging between the political class and society, and (c) an intermediation gap. This chapter argues that because of these reasons, it was civil society the arena in which political expressions could flourish, express, and articulate into social demands.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I have more thoroughly discussed how different public policies in the Mexico of the 1930s–1950s decisively contributed to construct not only a particular national identity but also the specific identities of the sectors of the corporatist system, as well as how the civil society became an arena for social change in Mexico (see Natal 2010).

  2. 2.

    This was the case of the Mexican Council of Businessmen, founded in 1962, to influence economic policy and the presidential succession, the same as COPARMEX, founded in 1929 and traditionally an arm of corporatism (http://www.coparmex.org.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=209). In this period Eugenio Garza Sada, the most important businessman, president of 90 companies with more than 33,000 workers, was assassinated in 1973, presumably as a result of his opposition to the president Luis Echeverría Álvarez (1970–1976), who had been secretary of governorship during the Movement of 1968 (see http://www.coparmex.org.mx/upload/bibVirtualDocs/5_entorno_octubre_09.pdf. http://www.coparmex.org.mx/contenidos/publicaciones/Entorno/2003/sep03/c.htm).

  3. 3.

    This last point was of much attention within public opinion (See The Guardian: Las reconfirmaciones del pacto Televisa-EPN. Revised in http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=310530; The Guardian: Unidad secreta de Televisa colaboró con Peña. Revised in 6/26/the-guardian-equipo-de-televisa-hizo-videos-a-favor-de-pena González Amador, Roberto (June 8, 2012). Documenta The Guardian la colusión Televisa-Peña. in La Jornada (p. 7). Revised in http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/06/08/politica/007n1pol).

  4. 4.

    “Porros” is an informal name given to fake students in Mexico that infiltrate universities and students’ movements, to carry out intelligence information to government, parties, or university authorities. “Acarreados” is an informal name given in Mexico to paid political supporters brought in to cheer in parties’ campaigns or public events, and during this election it was also given to slacktivists and ectivists in favor of PRI (see Ricaurte Quijano, Paola. (2011). Acarreados digitales. From http://blogs.eluniversal.com.mx/weblogs_detalle14205.html).

  5. 5.

    Ectivist, as opposite to activist, is a name recently given to those individuals working for the government to curb adverse public opinion through the new media. In Mexico it was at the time taken by a network of sympathizers with Peña Nieto (http://www.adnpolitico.com/2012/2012/05/18/ectivistas-los-incondicionales-de-pena-nieto-en-internet. Revised April 4, 2017). Peñabots was a term used by the youth at the time to refer to ectivists at the service of EPN campaign.

  6. 6.

    Mexican society had been vigorously pushing for a reform to the Federal Law of Telecommunications, Radio and Television since the 2000 and before. During 2004 and 2005, there were intense discussions with deputies where society presented 1410 proposals of reform. However, on December 1, 2005, when the synthesis of those discussions should have been presented in congress, deputies came out with a totally different proposal from what had been discussed for 2 years. Surprisingly, all parties unanimously approved this new proposal, without even reading or discussing it, in a record time of 7 min. Controversy erupted when it was obvious that the law favored the duopoly Televisa-Azteca. Alemán, R. (June 10, 2008). Desprestigio por partida doble de la televisora de Chapultepec (online) http://www.eluniversal.com.mx . Reviewed 09/20/2008.

  7. 7.

    I have amply discussed elsewhere about social movements that were not part of corporatist reshuffle or under its logic, chiefly the student’s movement of 1968, Navismo quest for democracy, part of the Zapatistas struggle among many very relevant others. See Natal (2010) for a historic review of the key ones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de México, Lerma, Mexico

    Alejandro Natal

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  1. Alejandro Natal
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Correspondence to Alejandro Natal .

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  1. Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil

    Adrián Albala

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Natal, A. (2018). Civil Society and Political Representation in Mexico. In: Albala, A. (eds) Civil Society and Political Representation in Latin America (2010-2015). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67801-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67801-6_5

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