Political Ecology as an Analytical Tool in the Mezquital Valley, Mexico: A Permanent Struggle

Jesús Guerrero Morales (), Brisa Violeta Carrasco Gallegos (), Raquel Hinojosa Reyes, Juan Campos Alanis and Edel Cadena Vargas
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Jesús Guerrero Morales: Affiliation Facultad de Geografía, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca 50110, Mexico
Brisa Violeta Carrasco Gallegos: Affiliation Facultad de Geografía, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca 50110, Mexico
Raquel Hinojosa Reyes: Affiliation Facultad de Geografía, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca 50110, Mexico
Juan Campos Alanis: Affiliation Facultad de Geografía, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca 50110, Mexico
Edel Cadena Vargas: Affiliation Facultad de Geografía, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca 50110, Mexico

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Solid waste for incineration and wastewater from the country’s largest city, Mexico City (CDMX), is transported to the southern region of Valle del Mezquital (MV). This area also hosts an oil refinery, a thermoelectric plant (PEMEX-CFE), cement factories, industrial corridors, and mining operations, all of which harm environmental and public health. From a Political Ecology (PE) perspective, we examine the mechanisms of accumulation, emphasizing the allocation of property titles and the extraction of rent as an environmental reservoir. We also explore the power of socio-environmental movements to provide a comprehensive understanding of environmental conflict. Based on economic power structures, we identify a geopolitical configuration that deepens the spatial divisions between labor in the MV and consumption in CDMX, exacerbating health disparities. We conclude that an unequal geography has been built that has produced capitalist and rentier landowners who are exempt from the externalities that have produced a sacrifice zone. The Mexican State is a key stakeholder, collaborating with the industrial elite in both legal and illegal spheres. Within this sacrifice zone, the inhabitants of the MV have resisted pollution and industrial accidents for over 50 years. Despite publicizing their struggle internationally and collaborating with academics, members of the movement have been assassinated.

Keywords: political ecology; sacrifice zones; social movements; heavy industry; wastewater; cement plants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
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