Proyectos de muerte and proyectos de vida: Indigenous counter-hegemonic praxis to sustainable development in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nahua and Totonakú activists in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico, have challenged the state-sanctioned and corporate-driven imposition of small hydropower projects as sustainable development. They deploy a counter-hegemonic discourse that labels these projects as proyectos de muerte that perpetuate violence and rearticulate coloniality. Simultaneously, they engage in proyectos de vida that build an alternative future premised on Indigenous resurgence and autonomy. The findings illustrate the importance of analysing ontological dimensions of violence and demonstrate the urgency of articulating decolonial alternatives to the sustainable development paradigm and its approach to the renewable energy transition.