Diversity management models: the indigenous peoples of Mexico. From extermination, acculturation, segregationism and multiculturalism, to interculturality as an emerging paradigm

Abstract

The situation of indigenous peoples in Mexico has historically been marked by marginalization, discrimination, and the violation of their rights. Until 1992, when the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States was reformed, they also lacked explicit recognition in constitutional texts. Throughout history – from the colonial era through independence, the consolidation of the Mexican State, the Porfiriato, and the Mexican Revolution, to the present day – their treatment has depended on the specific historical context, but always with a view either to their exclusion or to their assimilation into mainstream society. The management of this cultural diversity has covered everything from extermination, acculturation, assimilation, segregation, and multiculturalism, to the ethical and political advocacy of interculturality. It is worth noting that the intercultural paradigm, rather than a public policy, established fact, or formally acquired category, is the result of an ongoing process, an aspiration, and a different way of conceiving reality, based on positive interaction, intercultural dialogue, knowledge, and mutual enrichment within the framework of cultural diversity.