Collective identity formation and collective action framing in a Mexican “movement of movements”

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the popular social movement in Oaxaca, Mexico (APPO; The Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) as it evolved since its 2006 beginnings. The key research question is: how did hundreds of autonomous groups with divergent agendas generate collective identities and coalesce around a particular set of issues in a repressive regime? In order to address this question, I first describe the emergence of the Oaxacan movement and then place it in the historical context of Mexican politics. Based on evidence from multiple sources (field observations, in-depth interviews with activists and residents, local newspaper accounts, eye witness blogs, and follow-up electronic conversations with two local scholar-activists), I argue that this movement has features that may be characteristic of 21st century social movements, particularly in repressive regimes or post-colonial context: (1) the transformation from a popular uprising into a coalition of movements and citizens in conjunction with indigenous communitarian living and governing principles, and (2) collective identity formation based on the use of collective action frames (common origin, oppositional, and “prefigurative”) and the use of public space and place-based rituals.