SURCLA (Sydney University Research Community for Latin America) seminar

“Progressive” capitalism and the destruction of life:
The case of the “Maya” Train in the Yucatan Peninsula

Inés Durán Matute (Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Mexico)

Thursday 15 June 2023, 5-6:30pm AEST (Sydney time)

In-person: SLC Common Room 536, Brennan MacCallum Building A18, University of Sydney
Online: Join via Zoom (ID: 89919156443)

Abstract

Rituals of forgiveness towards indigenous peoples have become a frequent practice that “cleanses” the image of exclusionary and violent states. From Australia to Mexico, “progressive” governments have asked forgiveness for past atrocities, trying to erase the ones that persist. But how can these rituals heal our colonial wounds when we continue to plunder the land, despise native peoples, and destroy life?

In this talk, I will show how “forgiveness” goes hand in hand with “permission” to deepen state capitalism that is leading us to the current socio-ecological collapse. I will take the case of the megaproject so-called Tren Maya to illustrate how the “eco-indigenous” rhetoric –and its accompanying performances– has become a new tactic of a “green” and “inclusive” capitalism that seeks to hide the violence, dispossession, oppression, hatred, and devastation upheld by the policies and projects of the current Mexican government. Nevertheless, resistance persists, refusing to accept hypocritical attitudes and acts, wanting to show the world that it is not necessary to ask for forgiveness, but rather to change our daily relationships to preserve life.

About the speaker

Inés Durán Matute is an active companion of the national struggle of native peoples in Mexico and a militant in the Struggle for Life. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Sydney (Australia) and has been a post-doctoral fellow in Mexico, the United States and Germany. She is currently a researcher at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (Mexico) and an associate fellow of the International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Germany).

Contact

For more information and RSVP for in-person attendance:
Dr Vek Lewis (vek.lewis@sydney.edu.au)

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