Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 1997. / Bibliogr.: f. [162]-165. Publié aussi en version électronique.

This document presents a revision of the process that has permitted to establish in Mexico the equality in the candidacies for the relative majority principles and proportional representation to the House of Representatives, the Senate of the Republic and local congresses, and it analyses the phenomenon of political violence that some candidacies suffered during the elections on July 20th, 2015, in Chiapas. / En este trabajo se presenta una revisión del proceso que ha permitido establecer en México la paridad en las candidaturas por los principios de mayoría relativa y representación proporcional a la Cámara de Diputados, al Senado de la República y a los congresos locales, y se examina el fenómeno de la violencia política que sufrieron algunas candidatas en las elecciones en Chiapas el 20 de julio de 2015.

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Ce mémoire traite des déplacements de populations pour la conservation de l’environnement. Plus précisément, il aborde le cas des autochtones tzeltals pour la mise en place de la Réserve de biosphère Montes Azules dans la région du Chiapas (Mexique). Afin d’aborder ce phénomène, ce travail explore la thématique des changements de perception et d’utilisation de la nature, ainsi que les stratégies utilisées pour faire face aux déplacements. L’analyse présentée repose sur l’approche de l’écologie politique post-structuraliste, ce pourquoi l’étude des discours et pratiques y est primordiale. Les rapports de pouvoir entre l’État, les ONG et les populations autochtones sont également exposés. De plus, ce mémoire présente une réflexion critique du modèle de conservation de l’environnement, tel qu’il est actuellement appliqué. Les concepts utilisés sont l’utopie de la conservation, la rationalisation de l’espace et la moralisation de la discrimination. Les représentations de la nature et de l’autochtone sont aussi centrales.

This dissertation documents my active involvement in anthropological research on elder well-being in Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico, and how my research was a springboard for local dialogue on the need for primary health care for the elderly, an issue with global significance. I describe my work as part of a larger process, still unfolding, that I helped initiate and continue to trace as an ethnographer engaged in participant observation. My long-term residence and applied health research in Chiapas, graduate training in medical anthropology, and institutional backing from the Comitan Center for Health Research (an NGO where I have worked since 1994) equipped me to catalyze engagement around elder health in Comitan. To do so, I drew on formative research, a multi-stage participatory process that is iterative and draws upon multiple methods and actors to identify and define a problem, then develop, monitor, and assess locally-congruent interventions. Specifically, I conducted: 1) ethnographic research on middle and lower class elders living alone and with family; 2) an elder health needs and resources survey of 300 households; 3) interviews with elders, home-based caregivers, and formal care providers; 4) an interinstitutional elder health conference and 5) a strategic planning meeting, which spawned 6) an independent working group that is currently exploring potential elder care strategies, with 7) my ongoing facilitation. In detailing elders' lives, problems, and care, I at once address the specific issue of elder well-being in Chiapas as seen by elders, caregivers, and providers, and describe the social relations of community action to provide basic elder care. I take stock of historical factors that have altered family relations and elder care dynamics in Chiapas, including structural adjustment, epidemiological and demographic transitions, globalization, and migration, as well as resultant local and regional socio-political struggles. I give special consideration to the household production of health, gendered differences in elder health and care resources, and the social relations of health care-seeking and therapy management. My findings challenge popular misconceptions regarding elder entitlement and access to economic, cultural, and social capital, and indicate potential solutions. This dissertation, then, illuminates how anthropological research can facilitate community-based problem solving.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thesis advisor: Jennie Purnell / The Ejrcito Zapatista de Liberacint of the Zapatista platform. It will demonstrate that external conditions have influenced and frustrated realistic improvements in Zapatista gender relations. Finally, this thesis will assess the future of female participation within the Zapatista movement, and illustrate the limited social and political changes in indigenous communities. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Case studies on environmental governance are essential to improve comprehension on howto implement international agreements. This study focuses on seven social safeguards relevant toREDD+. The existence of these social safeguards is examined in Mexico’s watershed managementprogram in La Sierra Madre and La Costa of Chiapas. The watershed management program is anotherPayment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme similar to REDD+. Questionnaires and interviews wereused to conduct primary research with participants of the water management program. Upon theexamination of the collected data the safeguards were analysed on their sufficiency for REDD+.REDD+ itself could not be examined as it is still in the stage of preparation at the time of the research.Results varied between each safeguards. A complaint mechanism does exist but is underutilized andgenerally dysfunctional. Local knowledge is considered and used as the watershed managementprogram has a flat hierarchy of decision-making. However this is only the case at the lowestinstitutional level of the Comités de Cuenca. The higher the level the less likely it is that localknowledge will be considered. This is reflected in the social safeguard of full and effectiveparticipation, which is only fulfilled at the lowest level. There are no barriers to participation when itcomes to implementing and evaluating the mechanism on a local scale. However the design of it isdone on institutional levels beyond the reach of locals. The application of free, prior and informedconsent is upheld within the mechanism, as everyone participates by his or her own free choice.Marginalized stakeholders such as women, indigenous people and youth are also free to participate;unfortunately, little is done to encourage them to do so. As a result few to none are present, turning theComités de Cuenca into decision-making bodies for comparably wealthy and influential citizens at thelocal scale. The benefits acquired from the mechanism mostly go to e.g. work-committees where muchof the funds are distributed as income to temporary workers from the local community. According toparticipants of the Comités and managers alike, the decision-making process is equal to the waydecisions were made before the arrival of the mechanism.It could be observed that some social safeguards are in place, however, none of them sufficiently forREDD+. In regards to implementation of REDD+ the most challenging social safeguard will be theconcept of “free, prior and informed consent”. This holds true as long as REDD+ will be implementednationally. If that will be the case the government would have to convince locals across the country toparticipate in REDD+, including those that already announced their opposition in the Declaration ofPatihuitz (Declaration of Patihuitz 2011). Without legitimization there will be little participation andcommitment on the side of local people, which is crucial to make REDD+ work. Hence it isrecommended that the mechanism takes a process-oriented focus in order to legitimize the mechanism. / implement international agreements. At the 16th Climate Change Conference, the United Nationsformally agreed to launch a new Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme called ReducingEmission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Controversy exists concerning socialand environmental safeguards, which are additional rules aimed at preventing harm to civil society andnature. This study focuses on seven social safeguards that could be identified through a review ofinternational law. These are: complaint mechanism; consideration and usage of local knowledge; fulland effective participation; application of free, prior and informed consent; inclusion of marginalizedstakeholders; equitable benefit-sharing; and the use of traditional methods for decision-making.This study examines the existence of these social safeguards in Mexico’s watershed managementprogram of La Sierra Madre and La Costa of Chiapas. The watershed management program is anotherPES scheme similar to REDD+. Questionnaires and interviews were used as a means to conductprimary research with participants of the water management program. Upon the examination of thecollected data the safeguards were analysed on their sufficiency for REDD+. REDD+ itself could notbe examined as it is still in the stage of preparation at the time of the research.It could be observed that some social safeguards are in place, however, none of them sufficiently forREDD+. In regards to the implementation of REDD+ the most challenging social safeguard will be theconcept of “free, prior and informed consent”. This holds true as long as REDD+ will be implementednationally. If that will be the case the government would have to convince locals across the country toparticipate in REDD+, including those that already announced their opposition in the Declaration ofPatihuitz (Declaration of Patihuitz 2011).As REDD+ is another governmental mechanism it needs to fulfil specific requirements in theChiapanecan context in order to function properly. One of the most important foundations is to createtrust between stakeholders which has been lost during decades of conflict and corruption. This trust canbe established by committing to the guidelines of the social safeguards with particular focus on theinclusion of marginalized stakeholders and transparency. Hence it is recommended that the mechanismtakes a process-oriented focus in order to legitimize the mechanism. Without legitimization there willbe little participation and commitment from local people, which is crucial to make REDD+ work.

This dissertation examines portraiture at Palenque during the Classic period. I propose that portraits communicated information about the identity of the sitter through the representation of the face and head. I argue that when picturing the same person, sculptors rendered particular facial features with remarkable consistency. Artists also represented modifications to the face. Some superficial treatments that play roles in the ascription of identity include cosmetic devices appended to the face, tattoos or scarification, and facial hair. These changeable features operated alongside the face's form to communicate individual identity. The representation of facial features allowed the designers of visual programs at Palenque to make specific claims about the identity of sitters. For example, in some cases portraits quote physical characteristics observable in earlier portraits to mark biological connections of the individuals represented. Additionally, posthumous portraits furnished opportunities to situate some ancestors into divine lineages. Artists represented the faces, heads, and costumes of certain sitters in a manner that overtly referenced images of Maize Gods. In contrast, contemporary portraiture typically exhibits variations in the face's details, differences in the age of the sitter, and a diverse array of costumes. Despite this instability, portraits created during the sitter's lifetime still exhibit enough consistency to facilitate the identification of particular individuals. I suggest that emphasis placed on either divine lineage or temporal concerns shifted depending on political circumstances. This complex negotiation took place as the roles and responsibilities of kings changed during the Late Classic period. I advocate that portraits reflect the fragile and tenuous political environment during this time period, but more importantly, I propose that portraits actively participated in shaping environments and attitudes of Palenque's inhabitants. / text

Attending to the felt quality of experience, this work looks at how a community of Mexican campesinos go about thew life While cultivating coffee, trying to make sense of how villagers feel, know, and understand the world "on their own terms". The aim is to work through (and from) the plane of the body, a narrative strategy that seeks to convey some of the give an take of everyday life; the joy and salubrity that are often bounded in moments of good health, the sorrow and pain that poverty entails. But since "well being" is not "culture five" but guided by moral and aesthetic constraints, I map out the cultural "building blocks" to see how local notions of health and illness tie into feelings of integrity or fragmentation. Last, we look at what social ideals underscore notions of personhood and how these shape local experiences of land.