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How to Restore Social Sustainability in Mexico

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Migration, Women and Social Development

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice ((BRIEFSTEXTS,volume 11))

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Abstract

Thirty-five thousand deaths in the last decade in Mexico cannot be explained just by reference to the ‘War on Drugs’ launched by the government. Increased inequality, massive outmigration to the United States, joblessness (especially among young women and men) and soaring crime are some of its more overt expressions. To restore social sustainability in Mexico we need to understand the direct and indirect causes, as well as the triggering factors, in order to prevent their continuation in the future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This text was originally presented at the Coloquio UNAM, 2010, in Mexico City, and is unpublished.

  2. 2.

    “Entrevista a Alejandro Desfassiaux, presidente del CNSP”, in: La Jornada, 7 December 2010: 11.

  3. 3.

    See also UN Committee for Development Policy, UN Economic and Social Council, 2007–2010; at: www.un.org/en/development/desa/ (1 November 2013).

  4. 4.

    At: http://www.inegi.org.mx/ (1 November 2013).

  5. 5.

    “Greenspan ‘shocked’ that free markets are flawed”, in: The New York Times, 23 October 2008, at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-gspan.4.17206624.html?_r=0 (1 November 2013).

  6. 6.

    Bank of Mexico (Banxico). Statistics available at: http://www.banxico.org.mx/publicaciones-y-discursos/index.html (1 November 2013).

  7. 7.

    For example, in the town of Tlacotepec in the state of Morelos, 80 % of young boys leaving high school opted for undocumented migration to the US. Similar rates were found in other towns in the region (see Arizpe 2006).

  8. 8.

    A case in point is that of the Mara Salvatrucha. In the book Los Retos Culturales de México (Arizpe 2004), Ma. Elena Ramírez described how the Mara were a string of youth gangs along the migrant corridor between El Salvador and the US who played around with tattoos, bulging clothes and guns. Ten years later the Mara Salvatrucha is one of the most violent and brutal criminal gangs, feared by everyone and uncontrollable (Ramírez 2004).

  9. 9.

    A phrase originally published in the journal La Jornada became famous: “Más vale cinco años como rey que cincuenta de buey”, “Five years as a king is worth more than fifty as a mule”.

  10. 10.

    INMUJERES (National Institute for Women) “Sistema de Información Estadística para Mujeres y Hombres”, at: http://estadistica.inmujeres.gob.mx/formas/index.php (1 November 2013).

  11. 11.

    INEGI (National Institute for Geography and Statistics), at: http://www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/bie/ (1 November 2013).

  12. 12.

    “Libre comercio y el trabajo: Trabajadores mexicanos dicen que TLCAN fue un engaño”, in: CFO: Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s, March 2009, at: http://www.cfomaquiladoras.org/libre_comercio_ytrabajador.html (1 November 2013); see also Fleck (2001).

  13. 13.

    INMUJERES (National Women’s Institute) Press release no. 102, 17 December 2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Multidisciplinary Research Centre, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Lourdes Arizpe

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  1. Lourdes Arizpe
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Correspondence to Lourdes Arizpe .

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Arizpe, L. (2014). How to Restore Social Sustainability in Mexico. In: Migration, Women and Social Development. SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice(), vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06572-4_10

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