Contentious Politics in Mexico: Democratization and Mobilizations after NAFTA

Abstract

The contemporary social movement sector in Mexico is developing itself in conditions of sharp subsystem differentiation between market, state, and society that translate into increased economic rationality, electoral democracy, and the emergence of a politics of citizenship. The introduction of market-oriented policies in Mexico started in the mid-1980s. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), along with other major reforms and international agreements, institutionalized and locked-in market-oriented policies. In this chapter the question is, has the economic transition (from import substitution to exports; from protectionism to free trade; from a state-led to a market-oriented economy) been a source of grievances for the population at large? How has the population responded to these changes in state-economy and state-society relations? To understand popular contention after NAFTA was signed, we briefly review how state-society relations have changed, and then analyze in more detail four recent social movements (El Barzón, the Zapatista uprising, the Atenco movement, and the student strike at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México [UNAM — National Autonomous University of Mexico]), to illustrate and analyze the new opportunities and challenges that today face the Mexican social movement sector.