Des conflits socio-environnementaux aux vulnérabilités sociétales liés à l’eau au Mexique (Puebla-Chihuahua) : Première approche par l’analyse de la Presse Quotidienne Régionale (PQR)

• Main Authors: Alexandra Angéliaume-Descamps, María Teresa Alarcón Herrera
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut Pluridisciplinaire pour les Etudes sur l'Amérique Latine 2015-07-01
• Series: L'Ordinaire des Amériques
• Subjects: water; vulnerabilities; conflict; local newspapers; Mexico
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/orda/1975

In Mexico, over the last decades, water-related conflicts have become more frequent and have led to strong social movements. Studying such conflicts is interesting as they are either the symptom or the cause of vulnerabilities: knowing them can help reduce these vulnerabilities. This paper will analyze two Mexican provinces (Puebla and Chihuaha), which were deemed relevant because of their natural conditions (availability, accessibility, natural resources) and their dynamic growth (demographic evolution, numerous types of water consumption). It is based on a qualitative analysis of articles published in local newspapers from January 2011 to April 2013 and devoted to such conflicts, their causes, their protagonists, or the way they illustrate an opposition between agricultural, industrial, and urban interests. This will provide a sample of local water-related conflicts which will reveal the interactions between environmental dynamics, local practices, and public policies at the provincial level. The paper will also highlight some local initiatives or institutional interventions which have facilitated conflict-resolution and reduced vulnerabilities, while others have, by opposition, worsened gridlock and vulnerabilities.