Dealing with Diversity in the Construction of Indigenous Autonomy in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca

Building autonomy in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca has not depended on the development of Zapotec ethnic identities, isolation or rejection of the integration of outsiders into the communities. The communities of Ixtlán and Guelatao have developed strong local identities and strategies related to the appropriation of external legal categories, and the combination of these with their own customary practices to integrate newcomers into their social, political and economic organisation. Dialogue has been one of the main tools for building autonomy and achieve the integration of outsiders, while continuing the dynamic reproduction of their internal organisation and way of life.     

Defining Folklore: Mestizo and Indigenous Identities on the Move

This article analyses how the performance of folkloric music and dance defines and redefines ethnic/racial distinctions and identities in the Andes. It focuses on the promotional activities of urban-based institutions in Cusco called instituciones culturales, particularly how these activities have shaped folkloric performance. The article calls attention to the continuing importance of race as a central category of social differentiation, showing how folkloric performances embody ethnic/racial identities.     

Subnational Debt Swaps in Mexico,How Big Is Risk Exposure?

Research and practice with derivative instruments by States and Municipalities in Mexico are virtually unexplored. This paper investigates the effect of interest rate jumps and financial contagion on the risk exposure of Subnational Government debt swaps in Mexico. Unconditional risk exposure measures of debt swaps are obtained by simulating a set of stochastic processes with jumps. Simulation results confirm that risk exposure of local debt swaps increases with Poisson discontinuities while a significant effect is observed after crisis contagion is accounted for.     

Equal in Poverty,Unequal in Wealth: Ethnic Stratification in Chile,the Mapuche Case

How does ethnic status affect social stratification in Chile? Despite a rich theoretical debate in the literature on social stratification, there is a shortage of empirical approaches to this phenomenon in Latin America. This research note seeks to bridge the analytical gap by describing the social exclusion of indigenous people in Chile. From a case study in La Araucanía region and using statistical techniques to give equal weightings to indigenous and non‐indigenous groups (specifically Mapuches and non‐Mapuches), we attempt to show that given equal socio‐demographic conditions, the incomes of both groups are similar in the low and middle strata, and differentiated in the higher strata.