Mexican Social Movements and the Transition to Democracy

<p> Between 1995 and 1996 in Tepoztlan Morelos a movement was made against the construction of a large tourist development project. The case gained international attention as community members rejected their elected officials designed their own local government and eventually won bitter victory against both the state and the internationally financed corporation developing a golf course and country club.</p><p> This work focuses on how in a time of generalized political change in Mexico activists blended local national and transnational courses of identity and social change to produce political practices that allowed them to win redress of their grievances to alter local social relations and to contribute to changes within the national political system.</p><p> Here the anti-golf movement is chronicled. Important symbolic and organizational networks within Tepoztlan that took part in the conflict are explored. The role of global influences on the community's everyday life is examined as well as the ways in which the movement contributed to the evolution of a more democratic culture. Parallels in the more recent movement in Atenco against the construction of Mexico City's new international airport are analyzed.</p>