Looking beyond the conflict: Everyday interactions and relations between Maya and Mennonite farmers in the state of Campeche, Mexico

Abstract

Deforestation and environmental contamination from the expansion of neoliberal agriculture, including transgenic soy, turned the municipality of Hopelchén, in the Mexican state of Campeche, into a focus of cultural and economic tensions. Previous studies focused on analyzing the conflict between the original population, Maya traditional farmers and beekeepers, and the recently arrived migrants, Mennonite industrial farmers. We used ‘A Theory of Access’ (Ribot and Peluso 2003) to analyze everyday interactions and relations among the two ethnic groups, and opinions of Maya farmers on Mennonites presence in the area. Our sources of data were scientific publications and interviews with local farmers. We found that Mennonites have a broader “bundle of powers” since they have more capital, farm machinery, technical agricultural knowledge, and organizational and entrepreneurial skills than Maya farmers. Besides the reported conflicts, Maya and Mennonite farmers also enter into many everyday interactions and relations of cooperation and mutual dependence. These results may inform the design of public policies for sustainable rural development, including the national REDD+ strategy, to promote positive environmental and economic changes and help to ameliorate social conflict in the municipality.