304 Reia Anquet and Fabien Girard
applicable legislation”. The weakness of the text lies in the absence of said “applicable
legislation” – either in the constitution, federal law, or state law – in respect of free,
prior and informed consent (FPIC). Some federative entities already offer a more robust
protection – e.g. San Luis Potosí, Durango, and Oaxaca, or Chihuahua, Hidalgo,
and Morelos: https://infosen.senado.gob.mx/sgsp/gaceta/64/3/2020-12-03-1/assets/
documentos/Inic_PAN_Sen_Xochitl_art_5_expide_ley_federal_de_consulta_indigena.pdf ). In recognition of these fundamental weaknesses, Senator Xóchitl Gálvez
Ruiz (Partido Acción Nacional - PAN) has presented a draft Ley Federal de Consulta
a los Pueblos y Comunidades Indigenas y Afromexicanas (General Law of Consultation of
Indigenous and A fro-Mexican Peoples and Communities) on 26 November 2020,
adopted by the House of Deputies (cámara de diputados) on 20 April 2021. The bill is
currently before the Senate for review and voting.
3 4 In 1998, following the Law on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, it
came to be known as the “normas de derecho consuetudinario”, i.e. norms of customary law.
35 As a matter of practice, municipalities generally consist of various population centres
( Juan Martínez, 2013, p. 150).
36 On which see n. (32) above.
37 Called the “Assemblea General de comuneros”.
38 The concept was coined by two indigenous Oaxaca intellectuals, Floriberto Díaz, a
member of the Mixe indigenous community, and Jaime Martínez Luna, a Zapotec.
It is said to be built on four foundational principles: communal territory, governance through communally appointed leadership roles (cargos), communal labour, and
enjoyment ( fiesta). They are undergirded by respect and reciprocity (Esteva, 2012;
Martinez Luna, 2010). See n. (42) below on the importance of comunalidad for the
community of Capulálpam de Méndez.
39 See below.
40 Interestingly enough, the Ek Balam BCP stresses that
[d]uring the last decades the community of Ek Balam has taken up again traditional Mayan ritual practices such as the Ch'a Cháak or rainmaking ritual, the
Hanal Pixán which is the festivity dedicated to the dead and the Looj Ka Ta or rite
of protection against bad winds.
(p. 27)
41 See Lynch (2012).
42 On the importance of this concept in the Oaxaca State, see n. (38). In Capulálpam de
Méndez, comunalidad refers to three fundamental components: a mode of social organisation that orders and develops in a residential structure (the community itself ) and that
stems from a collective mindset. Comualidad is pitted against “individualism” as a counteracting force and is struggling against forms of “internal colonialism, characterized
as a totalitarian system that refuses dialogue with the diverse” (p. 18). Elsewhere, the
emphasis is put on festivities that are linked to agricultural and hydrological cycles
and that aim at “asking and thanking God for food, rain, crops, to avoid natural disasters, droughts” (p. 29).
43 Fires are a multifaceted phenomenon in Madagascar (Kull, 2002) and provide an
excellent example of the point in hand. Swidden agriculture (tavy), for instance, is
still commonly referred to by state agents to explain deforestation. In tune with the
“premodern” script, it is believed to be driven by population growth and poverty.
Yet, it has repeatedly been shown that tavy, whose impact on the deforestation on the
Great Red Island won’t be discussed here, ensures basic food provision and is deeply
engrained in the “Malagasy ethos of growth” (Keller, 2008, p. 652), and therefore
cannot boil down to overly simplistic factors. Tavy certainly ought not to be outlawed
and discarded without accounting for its social, economic, and cultural role and without a deep understanding of the drivers behind conversion of forests into other forms
of land cover (Scales, 2014).
applicable legislation”. The weakness of the text lies in the absence of said “applicable
legislation” – either in the constitution, federal law, or state law – in respect of free,
prior and informed consent (FPIC). Some federative entities already offer a more robust
protection – e.g. San Luis Potosí, Durango, and Oaxaca, or Chihuahua, Hidalgo,
and Morelos: https://infosen.senado.gob.mx/sgsp/gaceta/64/3/2020-12-03-1/assets/
documentos/Inic_PAN_Sen_Xochitl_art_5_expide_ley_federal_de_consulta_indigena.pdf ). In recognition of these fundamental weaknesses, Senator Xóchitl Gálvez
Ruiz (Partido Acción Nacional - PAN) has presented a draft Ley Federal de Consulta
a los Pueblos y Comunidades Indigenas y Afromexicanas (General Law of Consultation of
Indigenous and A fro-Mexican Peoples and Communities) on 26 November 2020,
adopted by the House of Deputies (cámara de diputados) on 20 April 2021. The bill is
currently before the Senate for review and voting.
3 4 In 1998, following the Law on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, it
came to be known as the “normas de derecho consuetudinario”, i.e. norms of customary law.
35 As a matter of practice, municipalities generally consist of various population centres
( Juan Martínez, 2013, p. 150).
36 On which see n. (32) above.
37 Called the “Assemblea General de comuneros”.
38 The concept was coined by two indigenous Oaxaca intellectuals, Floriberto Díaz, a
member of the Mixe indigenous community, and Jaime Martínez Luna, a Zapotec.
It is said to be built on four foundational principles: communal territory, governance through communally appointed leadership roles (cargos), communal labour, and
enjoyment ( fiesta). They are undergirded by respect and reciprocity (Esteva, 2012;
Martinez Luna, 2010). See n. (42) below on the importance of comunalidad for the
community of Capulálpam de Méndez.
39 See below.
40 Interestingly enough, the Ek Balam BCP stresses that
[d]uring the last decades the community of Ek Balam has taken up again traditional Mayan ritual practices such as the Ch'a Cháak or rainmaking ritual, the
Hanal Pixán which is the festivity dedicated to the dead and the Looj Ka Ta or rite
of protection against bad winds.
(p. 27)
41 See Lynch (2012).
42 On the importance of this concept in the Oaxaca State, see n. (38). In Capulálpam de
Méndez, comunalidad refers to three fundamental components: a mode of social organisation that orders and develops in a residential structure (the community itself ) and that
stems from a collective mindset. Comualidad is pitted against “individualism” as a counteracting force and is struggling against forms of “internal colonialism, characterized
as a totalitarian system that refuses dialogue with the diverse” (p. 18). Elsewhere, the
emphasis is put on festivities that are linked to agricultural and hydrological cycles
and that aim at “asking and thanking God for food, rain, crops, to avoid natural disasters, droughts” (p. 29).
43 Fires are a multifaceted phenomenon in Madagascar (Kull, 2002) and provide an
excellent example of the point in hand. Swidden agriculture (tavy), for instance, is
still commonly referred to by state agents to explain deforestation. In tune with the
“premodern” script, it is believed to be driven by population growth and poverty.
Yet, it has repeatedly been shown that tavy, whose impact on the deforestation on the
Great Red Island won’t be discussed here, ensures basic food provision and is deeply
engrained in the “Malagasy ethos of growth” (Keller, 2008, p. 652), and therefore
cannot boil down to overly simplistic factors. Tavy certainly ought not to be outlawed
and discarded without accounting for its social, economic, and cultural role and without a deep understanding of the drivers behind conversion of forests into other forms
of land cover (Scales, 2014).