Of social movements, human rights and electricity access: Exploring an indigenous civil resistance in Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Alongside Sustainable Development Goal 7 and related policies, another potential strategy for enhancing access to energy services that are reliable, high quality, affordable, sufficient, sustainable and modern consists in theorizing and establishing “energy rights”. In critical dialogue with other attempts to theorize and implement a right to energy, we propose that it is possible to theorize a human right to electricity access from the perspective of social groups, experiences, and worldviews from the Global South. To support this claim, we present the case study of Luz y Fuerza del Pueblo, a social movement operating in the state of Chiapas, southeastern Mexico. We show that this organization’s understanding of and approach to electricity depends on the convergence of Mayan cosmovisiones (worldviews) and Christian views mediated by Liberation Theology. Members conceive electricity as both a part of the whole and a fundamental entitlement that should not become marketable or be linked to capital accumulation. Moreover, the movement presents a non-hierarchical structure, has a strong commitment to territory control, an anti-capitalist attitude, a keen focus on cooperation, and implements “politics of place”. We argue that both the worldview and the type of socio-political arrangement of Luz y Fuerza del Pueblo as well as the lived experience of its members suggest the possibility of theorizing a specific right to electricity access. Overall, our findings and proposal can benefit energy scholars and practitioners who are interested in exploring, defining, implementing and enforcing a specific right to electricity in more pluralistic and inclusive ways.