NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN CHIHUAHUA. Urban Hacks for Social Change.

NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN CHIHUAHUA URBAN HACKS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Master's Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) awarded by the Philosophical Faculty of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br. (Germany) and the University of Cape Town (South Africa) Submitted by Gabriela Sisniega González from Chihuahua, Chih., México Summersemester 2019 Social Sciences 1st Supervisor: Dr. Philipp Schröder 2nd Supervisor: Dr. Rike Sitas i “WHO WHAT AM I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’ve gone which would not have happened if I had not come.” —Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, 1981 ii ABSTRACT The following pages contain an acknowledgment of the social change agents in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico. The localized knowledge that is created, tested, and recreated, along the working experience of local social movements is the main interest of the present thesis. With the ultimate goal to help understand why is it important we all take accountability for this knowledge. The flexible forms of the local autonomous organizations are challenging the social structures that currently delimit the private and the public, the collective and the individual, the beneficiaries, the participants and the leaders, along with material and subjective production processes. In contrast, these organizations also help to draw new connections amongst the citizens, the City authorities and the City urban space. These organizations are facing the obstacles of social change with hacks; in other words, they are finding ways of reversing the perceived challenges on their advantage. The ultimate hack that I was able to glimpse throughout this research is a network of hacks; local social movements are exchanging their learned skills to push forward each other causes, while local activist are acting as bridges of information and knowledge. Beyond proving the possibility of a molecular revolution (Guattari & Rolnik, 2015), networked social movements in Chihuahua City are making possible to grasp the multiple dimensions of affect in order to be able to decide as a society what should social change look like, the only way to truly talk about social transformation. Given the autonomous impetus and transformative goals of the new social movements in Chihuahua, the analysis of the affective dimension of their dynamics poses an interesting approach. The following may represent yet another account of the exploration of affective politics that Southern urbanism scholars have already recognized in the creative and participatory practices. (Sitas & Pieterse, 2013) KEYWORDS: Social change, Southern urbanism, new social movements, autonomy, urban hacks, networked social movements, affective networks. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I applied to the Global Studies Programme following my interest for exploring the urban from different perspectives, disciplines, and approaches; cities with different realities, weathers, and languages; for living the everyday of unknown places, and to continue the search of alternative solutions to the social equation. I would firstly like to thank the Programme for granting me this unique opportunity, and to all the people that made it possible along the way. I want to express my gratitude to my thesis advisors for their time, patience, and valuable insights. Dr. Philipp Schröder from the University of Freiburg, thank you for your availability, for pointing out the research decisions that needed attention, and for encouraging the inductive approach that made this research possible. And Dr. Rike Sitas from the University of Cape Town, thank you for your support, your work and views certainly opened the opportunity to include yet another dimension into the following discussion. Special thanks to the first person that is going to read these lines on paper: Vu, thank you for indeed being there for all of us. Thanks Megan for all your loving attention, time and feedback. Thanks to all the GSP family for all the exchanged learning and for every experience we shared. Thanks to my family and friends for all your love and support throughout this Programme. This research could not have been possible without your help. To the owner of this computer: I thanked you everyday, Nayeli. To my colleagues Valeria and Yaya: let’s take our words to actions. To all the research participants, whose names are not mentioned for confidential reasons, the title of this thesis responds to all that you shared with me at each of our conversations, thank you for making this title possible. My profound admiration to all the people that are working toward the elimination of social divisions. To all the direct and indirect participants of this research: thank you for proving me wrong, and for giving me the opportunity to write down a piece of your goals. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................iv 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Research question & positionality .............................................................................. 1 1.2. Justification of the problem ........................................................................................ 2 1.2.1. Chihuahua City context brief .............................................................................. 2 1.2.2. Chihuahua normative framework ........................................................................ 5 1.3. 2. 3. 4. Purpose of the research project ................................................................................... 7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 8 2.1.1. New social movements ....................................................................................... 8 2.1.2. Urban knowledge for / from social change ....................................................... 11 2.1.3. In the quest for the third space .......................................................................... 14 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 16 3.1. Research method ....................................................................................................... 16 3.2. Preliminary steps....................................................................................................... 17 3.3. Social media review .................................................................................................. 19 3.4. In-depth interviews ................................................................................................... 20 3.4.1. Coordinators of organizations ........................................................................... 21 3.4.2. Local activists.................................................................................................... 22 3.5. Participant observation of events .............................................................................. 23 3.6. Analytic plan ............................................................................................................. 24 3.7. Methodological notes ................................................................................................ 25 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ................................................................. 26 4.1. Movimiento Maliche [Malinche Movement] ............................................................ 27 4.1.1. Events ................................................................................................................ 28 4.1.2. Findings ............................................................................................................. 29 4.2. Wikipolítica Chihuahua [Chihuahua Wikipolitics] .................................................. 30 4.2.1. Events ................................................................................................................ 31 4.2.2. In-depth interviews............................................................................................ 33 4.2.3. Findings ............................................................................................................. 36 4.3. Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures] .................................................................... 36 4.3.1. Events ................................................................................................................ 38 v 4.3.2. In-depth interviews............................................................................................ 39 4.3.3. Findings ............................................................................................................. 41 4.4. 4.4.1. Events ................................................................................................................ 42 4.4.2. In-depth interviews............................................................................................ 43 4.4.3. Findings ............................................................................................................. 44 4.5. 5. 6. Nortejiendo [Northern Weaving] .............................................................................. 42 Local Activists .......................................................................................................... 45 DISCUSSION: resistance is ultimately constructive. .......................................... 48 5.1. New Social Movements in Chihuahua: “what’s ‘new’?” ........................................ 48 5.2. Urban Knowledge for / from Social Change: “the urban hacks” ............................. 51 5.3. In the quest for a third space: bridging the gaps for affect ....................................... 54 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 57 6.1. Research limitations .................................................................................................. 57 6.2. Contributions ............................................................................................................ 58 6.3. Further research ........................................................................................................ 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 60 ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA REFERENCES ..................................................... 65 vi 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Research question & positionality My initial self-positioning comes from a question that has been present since I moved out of my hometown Chihuahua to Mexico City in 2011 during the so-called Mexican drug war, an unusual violent year for Chihuahua. One of the contrasts I noticed right away were the heavy social manifestations at Mexico City, people were out in the street protesting every other day, whereas in Chihuahua people mostly locked themselves in during and after the violent outburst. Most of us, as students from the Global Studies Programme1, also experience closely social manifestations throughout our studies at the different universities we study at, and cities we traveled to. Then the question became more relevant: why couldn’t I recall any social movements and manifestations as such back home? I came back to my hometown last summer ready to look for the reasons why there were no visibly active social movements or manifestations in Chihuahua City. Some of the first people I talked to agreed on my general assumption. But I also found people, projects, initiatives and collectives challenging the establishment and working towards social change. The initial question transformed into: What are their discourses? What kind of social change are they working for? What tools and spaces are they using? What kinds of dynamics are being fostered by these initiatives in Chihuahua? The title for my research proposal already included early assumptions after talking to some of the people involved: Spaces for cultural production and democratic practice in Chihuahua City: the American North-South border cultural resilience through social movements. Most of the decisions I took afterwards required taking few steps back on this title to be able to understand my research approach as inductive, and to use empirical, ground up methodology in order to set aside preconceptions and self-assumptions. 1 https://www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de/ 1 The research question then transformed along with the progress the obtained findings to a much wider question that allowed unbiased answers: How do social movements in Chihuahua relate to the City and the people that live in it? If any, how do these connections look like? This question required an inductive approach with no preliminary hypothesis to test in order to obtain unbiased findings. Considering that the cities of the Global South have historically emulated the development models of the Global North, the general question I ask myself with this thesis is epistemological: What can we learn from social movements in Chihuahua and from their relation to the urban places and social spaces? Thus, it is important that the movements and organizations that are included in this research are autonomous; not institutionalized; that although they are movements that can be seen at greater scales; state, national, transnational; have particularities in their context; the city of Chihuahua; as well as asking them questions about their direct interaction with the City and its population (spatial dynamics, convening, participation and scope). 1.2. Justification of the problem The following is a brief review of the background information of Chihuahua City, intending to serve as reference to some of the issues that will be raised on the following chapters. The first section covers general socio-demographic and geographic information, remarking last decade violence rates. The second section reviews three relevant aspects of the current local. 1.2.1. Chihuahua City context brief Chihuahua City is the capital of a northern Mexican State with the same name. Chihuahua State borders to the North with the U.S. states of Texas and New Mexico. According to the latest official information 878,062 people live in the 250.41 km2 of Chihuahua City (INEGI, 2015), with a “Very High” [sic] Human Development Index 2 (IMPLAN, 2016:18). 2 http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi 2 The most relevant activities for economic development index of the City are the ones related to trade, transport and industrial services, along with an strong presence of industrial and construction companies (IMPLAN, 2016:20). The urban structure diagnosis presented by the latest Urban Development Plan of the Municipality (IMPLAN, 2016:24) remarks a predominant horizontal development pattern, high rates of urban land consumption, and ultimately lack of urban cohesion with three main considerations: Isolated and discontinuous development generated by privatization processes (such as new settlements promoted under the concepts of exclusivity and security); abandonment or underuse within the developed urban area; along with a high degree of urban poverty and disadvantaged peripheral areas that lack access to basic infrastructure and public services. (IMPLAN, 2016:24) Academic contributions on the matter (Córdova & Romo, 2015) suggest that Chihuahua City shows characteristics of a disperse City; noting its visible spatial segregation based on socioeconomic status: the working classes mainly located to the north and southeast of the City, while families with high socioeconomic status live along the west side of the City (Córdova & Romo, 2015:127); both groups expanding to the City peripheries (Córdova & Romo, 2015:95). The extensive empirical research conducted by Córdova & Romo, found an inadequate urban planning influenced by power elites; a vulnerable population that is dependent on improvised politics and private interests; and a disoriented society in terms of urban development. (Córdova & Romo, 2015:159) Additionally, the authors report a negative perception towards security amongst their research participants, who expressed feeling unsafe in the urban space they relate to on a daily basis. (Córdova & Romo, 2015:157) The problem of violence in Mexico, Chihuahua State, and Chihuahua City is one that cannot be overlooked, and a very sensitive one. Violence is deeply entangled to immeasurable social and economic factors, multiple actors, morbid rates, and the implementation of national policies and international agreements. Some examples of the later include Iniciativa Mérida [Merida Initiative] in 2007, a security cooperation agreement among the United States, the Mexican governments; the 3 Operativo Conjunto Chihuahua [Chihuahua Joint Operation] as a strategy of the national drug war in 2008, which entailed militar occupancy of Chihuahua City streets. Violence in Chihuahua was made an international concern in 2011 by multiple mediums, one example is the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, declaring Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua State’s bordering City with Texas) “among the deadliest places in the world.” (Shirk, 2011) Many different violence-related rates for Chihuahua City have been published and circulate on different media sources. On the local level, the official rates are mostly based on the research and periodic publications of a civil association called: Observatorio Ciudadano de Prevención, Seguridad y Justicia de Chihuahua [Citizen Observatory of Prevention, Security and Justice of Chihuahua] created in 2009 by local businessmen, and auxiliary of the State authorities since 2012. (Observatorio Ciudadano, 2015) Other local Civil organizations and asociations presented the a Shadow Report on the 52nd Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) claiming that the security policy of the State on the subject has “not been effective and respectful to the human rights” (CEDEHM et al, 2012) highlighting a dramatic increase of gender violence and murders in Juarez and Chihuahua Cities. Javier Corral Jurado took State office on 2016 after the widely criticized administration of César Horacio Duarte Jurado. Duarte is currently under investigation for corruption and holds an INTERPOL red notice 3. Javier Corral Jurado, the current Governor of Chihuahua State, proposed during his campaing the incorporation of civil society organizations into his Government cabinet. He made this a reality in 2016 with the appointment of former members of the private, academic, and civil local sectors relevant to each office; such as, the Secretary of Innovation and Development, Secretary of Social Promotion, Secretary of Education and Sports, Secretary of Culture, Secretary of Rural Development, and Secretary in Attention to Indigenous Peoples, amog others. 4 3 4 https://www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Notices/View-Red-Notices https://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2016/10/03/1120338 4 Furthermore, Corral reaffirmed his collaborative policy in his latest Government annual report the collaboration with de 21 civil society organizations in 2017, a number of collaboration that increased to 65 in 2018, stating: “The best policy of a government is to work with those who have a long journey supporting diverse causes to transform the lives of people.” (Corral, 2019) 1.2.2. Chihuahua normative framework The present section does not intend to provide a comprehensive overview of the local policy; that would be a research project in itself, one that has been partially carried out by some of the research participants, as it will be further detailed. The intention of this section is to provide background information of the local legislation of three concepts that are relevant to findings of this research: (i) the right to citizen participation, (ii) the right to the city, and (iii) the incorporation of the concept of community subsidiarity to the Municipal Code. (i) The local citizen participation law entitled: Ley de Participación Ciudadana del Estado de Chihuahua [Law of Citizen Participation of the State of Chihuahua] has been pushed by Chihuahua’s civil society for more than six years5. Its initiative was approved in 2017 by Javier Corral and officially published in 2018, with the purpose to guarantee the right to citizen participation and regulate the corresponding procedures. (LPCECh, 2018) Through the implementation of this Law, all citizens can use political and social instruments like: referendum, plebiscite, citizen initiative, and revocation of mandate; and public hearing, public consultation, advisory councils, participation committees, participatory planning, participatory budget, open city hall, social comptrollerships, citizen collaboration, and social participation mechanisms for girls, boys and adolescents; correspondingly. (LPCECh, 2018:Art 17, 61) (ii) The right to the city was incorporated to the federal law in 2016 through the Ley General de Asentamientos Humanos, Ordenamiento Territorial y Desarrollo Urbano 5 https://medium.com/@WikipoliticaCHI/dependedenosotras-942d2cc26c26 5 [General Law on Human Settlements, Territorial Planning and Urban Development] with the following definition: “Right to the City: Guarantee to all inhabitants of a Human Settlement or Population Centers access to housing, infrastructure, equipment and basic services…” (LGAHOTDU, 2016) The Right to the City has not been incorporated into the local legislation, nevertheless, the initiative was presented twice by local Deputies; in 2016 as a reform and addition to the State Political Constitution, and in 2017 as an a reform and addition to the Law on Sustainable Urban Development of the State of Chihuahua in order to standardize it with the General Law of Human Settlements, Territorial Planning and Urban Development 2017. 6 (iii) In contrast, Chihuahua State authorities incorporated on 2009 the concept of community subsidiarity to the local legal framework which states: “in face of the partial or deficient provision of a municipal public service, the organized community provides it or contributes to its efficient provision, the municipal authority being obliged to facilitate the neighborhood organization to achieve that end”. (CMECh, 2018:Art. 84-V) Under the understandment of the community subsidiarity concept, the article 84bis of the municipal code, allows neighbourhood committees to request permission for the installation of access and surveillance booths, or automated traffic restriction mechanisms. (CMECh, 2018:Art. 84bis) During the preliminary context review, I found this practice is still in force, with a total of 476 requirements of permission; out of which, 169 were approved, and 101 are identified as operating without obtaining permission. (DDUE/CT/163/2018) Further exhaustive research would be necessary to confirm the data provided by the local authorities as they verbally expressed they are unaware of the total number of gates operating without permission. (DDUE/CT/163/2018) This information was obtained only through oficial requierement signed by me, and based on the Federal Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (LGTAIP, 6 https://www.congresochihuahua.gob.mx/biblioteca/iniciativasCongresoUnion/ 6 2015), as well as the Law of Citizen Participation of the State of Chihuahua. (LPCECh, 2018). 1.3. Purpose of the research project The localized knowledge that is created, tested, and recreated, along the working experience of agents of social change in Chihuahua City is the main interest of the present thesis; the ultimate goal is to understand why is it important we all take accountability for this knowledge. Specific purposes aim to answer questions like: What can we learn about the urban from the knowledge produced by social change agents? What can we learn from the working experience of social movements in Chihuahua, and from their relation to the urban places and social spaces? Furthermore, additional questions unfolded along with the research progress; What is the social change that the new social movements in Chihuahua City are working for? What spatial implications would social change have? A parallel purpose, inspired by Aziz Choudry, is that the present document serves as a small record the intellectual labour of the new social movements in Chihuahua City; of the experiences that emerge from people coming together to work toward common good goals; of the ways they have flipped challenges into advantages; of the way they face failure, learn, and try again. Quoting Choudry: ‘We cannot afford the costs of historical and social amnesia for contemporary and future struggles, for risk of losing the thread and texture of what it takes to bring about social change, and being left with a version of history that glosses over or ignores the significance of behind-the-scenes organizing. Such amnesia can paper over the conflicts, tensions, and power dynamics that have been part of these organizing efforts and from which we can also learn.” (Choudry, 2016). 7 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A broad definition of social movements was used for the design and development of this research. No theories or paradigms were considered prior to the data collection, analysis and identification of findings, as further explained in the following methodology chapter. However, the general definition of “social movements” was provisionally adopted for the research design and further steps as a container of the aspects that the selected four selected case studies have in common: non formalized, nor institutionalized, local organizations that challenge the establishment and aim for social change. Although similar theories like collective action or, social networks are close related to social movements’ theories, they also have specific connotations that were more complicated to use as container in the present case. The following section reviews some of the existing theoretical explorations that are relevant to the findings of the present research. The selection of the theoretical approaches was done once it was possible to analyze in depth the information provided by each of the organizations: their causes, tools, actions, and challenges. Some pieces of literature were explicitly mentioned during some of the interviews, complementary pieces were selected after the insights obtained through data analysis and observation of events, in order to be able to go further into discussion. 2.1.1. New social movements A theory that frames the findings that will be described in the following chapters is the new social movements theory or theories (Melucci, 1980; Habermas, 1981; Guattari & Rolnik, 2015; Castells, 2014). The following brings to light an array of different approaches and aspects that concern to social movements in western postindustrial and postmodern societies and that were visible after mid-1960s, and stress the importance of their study. Some of the most relevant characteristics that these theorist highlight are: social and cultural aspects are more important than the economic or political; coming mostly from middle classes; loose, flexible organizations; addressing more than one issue, or an interconnectedness of issues; aim for achieving social changes on a wider ranges and scales, across social classes or groups, localities, and even nationalities. 8 According to Melucci (1980) the new social movements respond to the post-industrial phase of capitalism, he asserts that their concerns are moving away from the production and distribution of material resources, toward the control of the cultural production of social systems, identities, information, and symbols. (Melucci, 1980:217-218) Melucci identifies the new conflicts in the manipulation and control over social production, claiming that the new strategy is less political and entails the collective “reappropriation” of the social resources of the everyday life of individuals: creativity, affection, time, space, and relations; especially as they relate to the social production personal and interpersonal identities: “Personal identity […] is the property which is now being claimed and defended; this is the ground in which individual and collective resistance is taking root.” (Melucci, 1980:218) Melucci calls for a sociology of social movements after naming their new characteristics; not focused on a single social class or political system; posing solidarity, direct participation as objectives and thus rejecting representation and leadership. He also describes how the struggle for identity fosters dynamics that blur the social lines that previously defined the private and the public, the collective and the individual, or even opposition and deviance. (Melucci, 1980) Habermas (1981) agrees with Melucci insofar the new social movements entail “new conflicts [that] no longer arise in areas of material reproduction” (Habermas, 1981:33). They go beyond the working social system looking for a new arrangement or “forms of life” (Habermas, 1981:33); thus, posing that “the new conflicts arise at the seam between system and life-world” (Habermas, 1981:36). Some links made by Habermas to terms like: “new politics” and a “new middle class” may stand out as conflicting with some of Melucci’s identified characteristics. However, the definitions that Habermas gives to these terms hints that the word new may stand for the absence of politics that previously aim to achieve abstract values like “quality of life, equality, individual self-realization, participation, and human rights” (Habermas, 1981:33); and younger generations “with high levels of formal education” and ”great sensitivity” (Habermas, 1981:35). Other relevant contributions from Habermas to the new social movements theory 9 include the life-world, which visible destruction not only triggers acts of “resistance to tendencies to colonize it” (Habermas, 1981:33), but is also where such resistance must happen (1981:35). Along with the idea of “Problems of Over-Complexity”, a combination of real social fears and immeasurable risks that overrun the boundaries of the life-world; and “Burdens on the Communal Infra-Structure”, as a consequence of a rationalization of the life-world that lacks diverse collective identities or differentiated public spheres in the “everyday life” (Habermas, 1981:36). Furthermore, he distinguishes the resistance and retreat potential of the new social movements from the emancipatory potential of the preceding liberation movements, regarding the feminist movement as the only movement that continues to work with the emancipatory tradition and offensive impetus (Habermas, 1981:34). In contrast, the defensive character of the new movements blocks the traditional social systems, while operating on the life-world towards new “forms of cooperation and community” (Habermas, 1981:34) with “social-integrative objectives” (Habermas, 1981:36). Decades later, the new social movements theory continues to be relevant to the field through contributions of theorists like Felix Guattari & Suely Rolnik (2008, 2015)7, and Manuel Castells (1999, 2014, 2015). Clear continuities are further elaborated through some of their postulates: molecular revolution, spaces of autonomy. Guattari continues the discussion toward the “reappropriation” of the means for subjective production, challenging the dichotomy among collective and individual subjectivities and claims molecular revolution processes of “subjective singularization”. According to Rolnik, subjective singularization is what distinguishes the new social movements; as they not only represent a resistance against the control of systematic production of subjectivity. (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:61) 7 The extensive philosophical explorations on contemporary revolutions developed by Felix Guattari in collaboration with Gilles Deleuze, Antonio Negri and other authors go beyond the scope of this thesis. The cited literature does not intend to overlook these or other contributions on the subject and was selected according to its relevance to the present research delimitation and findings. 10 Singularization is characterized by a group’s autonomy and self-modeling capacities. Autonomy to carry out its own process of semiotization, realize their position in the local power relations map, and on the construction or deconstruction of their alliances. And self-modeling capacities that make them free to capture the elements of their own situation, of “what is taking place around them” (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:62); and free to construct their own references and praxis, at every level: “infrapersonal”, personal, and interpersonal, in other words, independent from global power: “… whether in terms of economy, knowledge, technology, or segregations and prestige that are disseminated.” (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:62) Additional dimensions that Guattari and Rolnik (2008) bring to the front of the new social movements discussion are feminism, gay movements, politics of love relationships, and the fact that all dimensions are “interwoven, threads of a single fabric” (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:11). Other authors including Funke (2014) and Nail (2012) argue for a “rhizomatic8 movement epoch” and set as the latest example the global occupation movements that can be traced back to the Zapatistas movement, regarding social movements new dynamics of interwoven organizations, shared identities and strategies, and transnational scope and relevance. 2.1.2. Urban knowledge for / from social change According to Habermas “what sparks the protest […] is the tangible destruction of the urban environment” (1981:35), the urban environment understood as part of the lifeworld is thus the where the new social movements take place. This statement is reinforced by Manuel Castells9 (1999, 2015) who agrees with the emergence of a network of new social movements in thousands of cities, and recognizes their occupation of the cyberspace in addition to their occupation of the public space. 8 Systems in rhizomes […] can drift endlessly, establishing transversal connections that one cannot center or close, (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:469) 9 https://www.revistaciencia.amc.edu.mx/images/revista/65_4/PDF/RedesSociales.pdf 11 With the advent of cyberspace, Castells (1999) helps to blur another set of lines; those that previously defined space, place, time, flows and networks; incorporating the power domination mechanisms over human experience into the discussion. Initially, Castells drew a line between place and the space of flows (1999). Observing that the space of places (where things exist at a determined time and contiguity is possible, e.g., urban space) is the material container of the social praxis. While, the space of flows (where simultaneity is possible without contiguity, e.g., digital space) was subject to power domination mechanisms. (Castells, 1999) The accelerated evolution of the new technologies allowed Castells to revisit his theory and to identify a counterpower (Castells, 2015:5) available for the space of flows: autonomous social praxis in the space of places or “the new public space”. (Castells, 2015:11) According to Castells, the new public space (a networked space between the digital, the urban, and the institutional space) is a place where autonomous communication is made possible and the essence of networked social movements (Castells, 2015:11). Claim the public sphere on all its manifestations is exactly what current social network movements do. However, Castells notes two necessary elements and corresponding actions for the construction of this new kind of space: autonomy that can only be constructed offline, and the continuity of opposition to domination through the occupation of the urban space by citizens. (Castells, 2015) The reappropriation of space for social change is where all the theories cited so far intersect: analytic space (Melucci, 1980:223), life-world (Habermas, 1981:35), existential space (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:93), spaces of autonomy (Castells, 2015:2), and the construction of a new public space (Castells, 2015:11). Along with some sort of subjective strategies and objectives: social identity production and direct participation (Melucci, 1980:220), new forms of cooperation and community (Habermas, 1981:35), subjective singularization and self-modeling organizations (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:62), and autonomous social praxis and communication (Castells, 2015:11). These different approaches and their intersections altogether are fundamental to a contemporary revision of the modern idea of urban theory critique and its need to move 12 forward; beyond the revelation of system-society antagonisms, towards alternative ways of organizing social capacities and relations (Brenner, 2009:200), and across the boundaries that are crossed by the creative destruction on the global scale (Brenner, 2009:204). A similar argument motivated Habermas (1981) to review new social movements with the intention to set an objective reference on his remarks from "tasks for a critical theory of society" (Habermas, 1987:374) through which he argues for the relevance of revisiting the 1930’s critical theory. An urban critical approach that is relevant given the present research objectives and delimitations is Southern Urbanism (Pieterse, 2014:1). An epistemological project from the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the University of Cape Town, dedicated to rethink the knowledge production on cities of the Global South. The interdisciplinary space aims to explore three fundamental questions: “How best can meaningful knowledge about the urban be produced? What should we produce knowledge for? And what do these questions mean for the politics of knowledge production in the global South? (Pieterse, 2014:1) The potential that cities hold as places for knowledge production, is not an implicit statement of many other authors: city speech of its dynamic and implicit knowledge (Sassen, 2013), and Bourlessas’s Urban Knowledge as Social Practice (2016). But also a warning over who gets hold of this knowledge and with what purposes. Purcell’s Urban Democracy (2006), Easterling’s Extrastatecraft (2016) posing space itself as an information system. Pieterse (2012; 2014) identifies four relevant perspectives (southern urbanism, everyday urbanism, ecological urbanism and vitalist ontology) stretching from two axis: research methods and intimate e and temporal-political, and two scalar dimensions: the regional scale and the molecular intimacies of the city (Pieterse, 2014:7). The everyday urbanism and the vitalist ontology perspectives included in the molecular dimension will be further explored through the methodology of the present research, following the in depth, intimate ethnography axis as research method, in order to answer the following questions: can the new social movements and cities communicate? What kind knowledge can they exchange? 13 2.1.3. In the quest for the third space The search for alternative spaces is already visible in the previous sections: from the overuse of the word new; to the molecular revolution toward singularization from Guattari & Rolnik (2008); to an autonomous and communication towards a new public space from Castells (2015); to everyday urbanism and the vitalist ontology to southerning urban theory from the ACC (Pieterse, 2014; 2012). Other authors explore the same idea from different perspectives. Some explorations from or applied to spatiality: the heterotopia and the heterotopology by Foucault (1984); the isotopic, heterotopic, and utopian spaces by Lefebvre (1996:113); the review to the right to the city by Harvey (2013); the thirdspace and spatial justice by Soja (1996; 2009); and the undeclared forms of polity of infrastructure space by Easterling (2016). Additional ideas that move away from the urban and closer to the philosophical can be: the logic of dissensus that allows the introduction of new subjects and heterogeneous objects by Ranciere (2016); the discursive: the use of intertextuality and exotopia for the creation of a third space in the Zapatista discourse, and interpretation by Ansotegui (2018); the aforementioned third space of cultural significance that challenges the hegemonic dichotomy through a new "we" that includes "the others" as approached by Bhabha (2004); and even moving away from anthropocentrism into the pluriverse conceptualized by Escobar (2014) an into the call for action for the transitions through narratives and movements for the global South (Escobar, 2014:137). Finally, there are many examples that intersect with the methodological axis of the molecular dimension: the passion to work with is for “what's in the cracks” of Hufford (1999); the aim to "change life" before changing the "big politics" of Benjamin (2002); the affective tactics of the everyday life by De Certeau’s (2002); the cultural practice for freedom by Freire (1988); the autonomy of affect by Massumi (1995); and ways of Southerning the urban through an affective lens by Sitas (2015:17). Massumi included a definition for affect/affection on his translation notes of A Thousand Plateaus (Deleuze & Guattari, 2005) stating that both words stand for the ability to affect and be affected, neither related to feelings: “It is a prepersonal intensity corresponding to the passage from one experiential state of the body to another and implying anaugmentation or diminution in 14 that body's capacity to act. […] such state considered as an encounter between the affected body and a second, affecting, body (with body taken in its broadest possible sense to include "mental" or ideal bodies)” (Deleuze & Guattari, 2005:xvi) Massumi further elaborates and expands on the autonomous (virtual) character of the affective dimension, and remarks its simultaneous two-sidedness (virtual and actual), presupossing an exchange of each other senses. Massumi measures the potential interaction among living things as intensity; its ability to transform the effects of one sensory mode to another. (Massumi, 1995:96) It is important for the following argumentation to note the warnings related to everyday urbanism. The Critique of Everyday Life by Lefebvre calls for an autonomous review of the everyday, in order to avoid the reproduction of the dominant discourses (Lefebvre, 2014). Similarly, Sitas cautions the tendency to romanticize the everyday negotiations of the City (Sitas, 2015:14), together with the “irrepressible optimism” as one of the divided views implicit on the Southern contributions (Pieterse, 2008, as cited in Sitas, 2015:14). Given the autonomous impetus and transformative goals of the new social movements, the analysis of the affective dimension of their dynamics poses an interesting approach. The latter may represent yet another account of the exploration of affective politics that Pieterse and Sitas recognize in the creative and participatory practices. (Sitas & Pieterse, 2013) 15 3. METHODOLOGY Each decision of the present research unfolded from the previous step. The first step was conducted at the field, Chihuahua City, looking for urban agents of change. Many more steps can be taken in the future, as the identifiable social change agents transform themselves, multiply, and move forward. Such research steps and decisions are further explained in two main sections. Data gathering through inductive research following grounded theory methodology and using ethnographic approach, and the analysis of the gathered information supported by empirically grounded affect research methodologies that aim to engage with the intangible and affective processes of social movements. (Timm Knudsen & Stage, 2015) 3.1. Research method The present document poses an inductive research, the methodology design follows grounded theory, which entails the elaboration of argumentation directly from what I found on the field. All decisions aimed to cover as many perspectives and dimensions of the problem as possible. The present methodology can be described in short as empirical through its research steps: preliminary review and observation, social media review, in depth conversations, participant observation of events, and literature review. The localized knowledge that is created, tested, and recreated, along the working experience of the research participants is the main interest of the present thesis. Thus, all steps of the research followed the insights obtained during the first conversations aiming to go in-depth through their empirical learning, on how they relate to space and place (Chihuahua City) and their audience (Chihuahua’s inhabitants). Inductive approach was the most suitable choice for the present research objectives: knowledge production processes and collective meaning of social change. Inductive reasoning was applied for the most part of the preliminary and gathering data stages of the research, during which information was obtained mostly from qualitative methods. Along with grounded theory method that also implies the incorporation of deductive reasoning during the subsequent research decisions, such as the selection of the 16 analysis categories, the narration of findings, and the construction of further discussion. (Charmaz, 2006:104) Two main considerations may justify the selected methodology: my positionality and the ethnographic approach of the preliminary steps of research. It is relevant to note that I was born in Chihuahua City, where I studied architecture and developed my academic and professional interest for the urban approach. The first challenge I faced in order to be able to conduct an impartial research was to set aside my many own assumptions around the urban issues of my City. The second consideration responds to the steps taken during the preliminary stage of the research, further details are elaborated in the next section. Participant observations and informal conversations were conducted on the field in order to better understand the problem and be able to design a research outline. In order to turn my positionality and privileged research perspective into an opportunity rather than a limitation, this research also followed ethnographic methodology. (Sangasubana, 2011) 3.2. Preliminary steps As a first exploratory approach to the research project I conducted participant observation and held informal conversations during September and October of 2018. The information that was obtained during this stage of the research was used for the research delimitation and the selection strategy of the research participants. I attended to public events, art festivals and meetings with the initial objective of grasping the panorama of urban agents of change in Chihuahua City. Through which I was able to identify people and collectives working with projects toward social change, and to take a glimpse of their discourses, tools and dynamics. Four local organizations were selected as research participants: Wikipolítica Chihuahua [Chihuahua Wikipolitics], Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures], Nortejiendo [short for: northern weaving], and Movimiento Malinche [Malinche Movement]. The selection strategy was very simple: social movements that were visibly active (e.g. held public events, came up in informal conversations, were available to meet) during September and October this year when I was able to conduct preliminary conversations. 17 The first approach to the four organizations was in person. Preliminary, informal conversations or participant observation of their meetings was conducted with the participation of at least one organizer of each group, through which it was possible to determine their shared characteristics in a broad perspective. Organizations were all local or localized, bottom-up, not institutional or formal organizations, aiming for some kind of social change. Some additional notes on how the four organizations were identified are: (i) Three of the four organizations, except for Wikipolítica Chihuahua, were first identified directly or indirectly through my participation at a local workshop of the Festival de Arte Nuevo 10 [New Art Festival] called Landscape of Progress. (ii) Wikipolítica was previously identified because it is widely known as a political Mexican social movement at a national scale, Wikipolítica Chihuahua is one of the ten nodes, each one working on a different Mexican city. No in depth literature review was conducted prior the data gathering stages, further than a quick preliminary context review including local media and local publications, thus, no other theoretical framework was followed to design the following research questions and analytic plan. However the general topic selection and approach was supported by three main paradigms: First, the agents of social change: using social movements as a provisional umbrella concept for no institutionalized grassroots organizations that challenge the establishment and aim for social change. This concept was defined through my preliminary observations of the four selected organizations and was subject to change as the research progressed. Second, the urban space: in this case two dimensions of Chihuahua City were of my interest: (i) The city as a unit of analysis follows the paradigm that cities have speech by Saskia Saseen (2013), who proposes the city as a knowledge container, in terms of the visible aspects of the city being both witness and results of the ways we organize our societies. 10 https://sic.cultura.gob.mx/ficha.php?table=festival&table_id=1547 18 (ii) The global south city posit by critical urban theory and southern urbanism school, as I recognize some of the problems in Chihuahua City: spatial fragmentation, social isolation, lack of infrastructure and sustainable practices. Third, the people that lives in Chihuahua City: probably the most difficult premise to grasp in advance, and throughout the research. However the relevant factors that were mentioned on some of the preliminary conversations were divided in two main directions: On the one hand, public violence, social isolation, and lack of participation; on the other hand; collaborative networks and opportunities for encounter and dialogue. The following step was social media review with the intention to understand how they present themselves on their social media platforms, and the initial links identified amongst each one and to the City and its population. 3.3. Social media review The second approach to each one of the organizations was conducted through a brief analysis of the related information found online. This stage of the research provided enough background information that allowed the design of the next steps: questions to discuss during the in-depth and semi-structured interviews and later observation of events. The prevailing communication tool, through which organizations make public their discourses, achievements, complaints, share latest news, events, amongst others are social media and social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; along with messaging platforms like Whatsapp; and online publishing platforms like Wordpress, and Medium. (See online references) I conducted social media follow-up of the four selected organizations throughout the research, along with additional identified organizations and collaborators, like: Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua, Uno de Siete Migrando A. C., Cheros Ac, Colectivo Imaginario, Cooperación Ecológica, Liga Peatonal, Alianza Feminista Chihuahua, Movimiento Amplio de Resistencia Civil, Marea Verde Chihuahua, Chihuahua sin viOLÉncia, Comité de la Diversidad Sexual de Chihuahua, Autogestiones y comunalidades en Chihuahua, Colectivo Epistémico de Teoría Crítica de Chihuahua, Protejamos los Bosques de la Sierra Tarahumara, Red de Apoyo al Concejo Indígena de Gobierno - Sección Chihuahua, and Chihuahuavsfracking. (See online references) 19 3.4. In-depth interviews I conducted a total of nine in-depth interviews, divided in two different groups of research participants: coordinators of three of the four selected organizations, and independent activists. The personal identity of each participant will not be revealed in this document for ethical considerations. I will be using pseudonyms to refer to each participant individually when necessary. Five interviews corresponding to the coordinators of three selected organizations: Wikipolítica Chihuahua, Nortejiendo, and Creaturas Escénicas. Movimiento Malinche was not available for interview during this stage of the research. Four interviews corresponding to independent activist that were mentioned during previous interviews or stages of the research by coordinators of the selected organizations. Seven out of nine interviews were conducted online (through different platforms like Skype, Facetime, or Whatsapp), and two interviews were conducted in person. All followed the same semi-structured guideline with the objective to find links, intersections, conflicts, or claims amongst the three parts of the triangle used for the design of this research. The general design of the research contemplates three factors: social change, space/place, and audience. Therefore the interview guideline included open questions regarding the three research paradigms: social change, space/place, and audience. The intention of these conversations was to understand how organizers and activists understand these three aspects on their contexts. A first challenge was not to impose definitions on any of these concepts; thus, corresponding definitions became the first question. I started each conversation with coordinators asking the participants to present themselves. Name, age, education, occupation were suggested as possible answers. For most of the conversations, their personal stories, motivations, struggles and causes became part of this answer. What unfolded from each conversation on how these main three aspects (social change, space/place, and audience) are perceived, linked, or separated became the core findings of this thesis. 20 3.4.1. Coordinators of organizations I was able to conduct a total of five in depth interviews to coordinators of each organization, as follows: - Two interviews to Wikipolítica Chihuahua (EM1): Interviews EM1.1 and EM1.2 - One interview to Creaturas Escénicas (EM2): Interview EM2.1 - Two interviews to Nortejiendo (EM3): Interviews EM 3.1 and EM 3.2 Following the research design, questions were divided in three main groups: (i) Social change: included one open question about the organization they work with, and follow-up questions about its discourse, tools, dynamics and projects. From this question I obtained information including story of how the organizations came to be, its vision, causes, accomplishments, failures, learnings and future projects. (ii) Audience: included one open question regarding the organization’s audience, and follow-up questions about the ways of engagement and communication with their audience. From this question I obtained answers like: citizens, all the people, society; communication and call-to-action methods, as well as their understanding of participation. (iii) Space and place: included one open question about how Chihuahua City affects their organization, and follow-up questions about meeting places, landmarks, perceptions. From the question about Chihuahua City I obtained answers regarding the historical, political and environmental context, as well the advantages and limitations of the constructed and perceived reality. One additional question was about the direct beneficiaries of each project, if it was possible, to name someone I could talk to about their perception of the projects. The idea was to broaden the organization including an outsider perspective from people that potentially could provide an account of the outcome of at least one project of each organization. As response to this question, coordinators named participants or collaborators of their organizations and projects, mostly including: local activists, informants, or coordinators from other organizations. Therefore, the next step of the research was to interview the people I was referred to the most by the coordinators. Local activists were mentioned within the conversations with multiple connotations: informants, connectors, founders, mentors, leaders, and experts. 21 3.4.2. Local activists The next step was to interview the local activists that I was referred to the most during the previous interviews, continuing with the idea of broadening the perception of several insights obtained from each organization, and aiming to obtain an outsider perspective of independent activists. The difference among coordinators and activists may not be ultimately substantial as both are actively working towards similar goals. Nevertheless there is one important methodological difference relevant for this research: the independent work of activists and the fact that they are actively collaborating or have collaborated with more than one organization. I was able to interview four local activists (EA): EA1, EA2, EA3, and EA4. Through the interviews to local activists I was able to grasp the challenges of social change from outside of the organization of a group, obtaining insights in relation to the three dimensions of the City: the citizens, the City authorities and the City urban space. The design of the in depth interviews with local activists emulated the previous interviews and question grouping also divided in three main groups, with the following differences: (i) Social change: what would they magically change in Chihuahua if local activist could? The first question I asked to activists was a hypothetical one with two main intentions: First. Obtain responses as unbiased or as free as possible from the many available local references. Given that Chihuahua is a small City, some of the referred local activists were people with whom I already had conversations about this topic in the past. Second. A hypothetical first question helped me to identify ultimate goals and concerns, and thus, conduct the rest of the conversation on that line, and beginning with independent answer and constructing references only after that. (ii) Audience: since local activist work mostly independently this aspect of the research triangle was approached from an open question of regarding their personal definitions for local social movements, and follow-up questions about their particular experiences with social projects. From this question I obtained insights about how society, activism, and local policies are intertwined, along with the opportunities and obstacles for these three stakeholders to 22 work together for a common goal. (iii) Space and place: included one open question about places in Chihuahua City that came to their minds during our conversation, and follow-up questions about their specific answers. From this question about places in Chihuahua City I obtained answers about particular landmarks and meeting places along with problematic places and how these relate to the everyday life of Chihuahua. 3.5. Participant observation of events This stage of the research aimed to balance the triangle research, through the observation of space, place, and audience. The two aspects of the triangle that I was not able to directly obtain insights from, but as important to take into account if they are considered knowledge holders in the paradigms that guided this research from the beginning. To overcome this research challenge I used the information obtained from the social media follow-up and selected six events to observe for their relevance to the factors that were mentioned on some of the preliminary conversations. I was given the permission to record one event and able to attend seven others. From the events I was able to attend given the research timeframe, I selected the ones that better represented the overall benefits that each interviewed organization is working for. 1. Presupuestos hecho por las personas para las personas [Budgets made by the people for the people] organized with Wikipolítica Chihuahua 2. Nortejiendo da la mano [Nortejiendo holds hands] session organized with Nortejiendo. 3. Public hearing “Salvemos el Cerro Grande” [Let us save Cerro Grande hill]. Requested to local authorities by Salvemos los Cerros de Chihuahua [let's save the hills of Chihuahua] In collaboration with Wikipolítica Chihuahua. 4. Arte Correo Migrante en escena [Migrant Mail Art performance] by Creaturas Escénicas. 5. ¡Samir Flores vive! [Samir Flores lives!]. Public manifestation with Red de Apoyo al Concejo Indígena de Gobierno - Sección Chihuahua [Support Network for the Indigenous Government Council - Chihuahua Section] and Creaturas Escénicas. 6. ¿Qué sigue? Reunión abierta salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua [What’s Next? 23 Open meeting let's save the hills of Chihuahua, in collaboration with Wikipolítica Chihuahua 7. Acciones en el sentido social de la lucha [Actions in the social sense of the struggle] organized by Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua. 8. Mesas de análisis y propuestas para la creación del reglamento de participación ciudadana del municipio de Chihuahua [Tables of analysis and proposals for the creation of the citizen participation regulation of the municipality of Chihuahua]. Some of these events had considerable responses in local media and social networks, which were also included in the following analytic plan. 3.6. Analytic plan Given the design of the research steps previously described, most of the obtained data could be classified by the aspects that conform the research triangle: social change, space/place, and the people that lives in Chihuahua. Additionally taking into account the broader perspective of local activists, the specific perspective of each one of the interviewed organizations, and my own observations regarding space, place, and audience. The design of the present research made possible to simultaneously analyze insights form different local organizations and projects, which represented a unique opportunity to look at the relations amongst them. Although I found important similarities amongst movements, there were considerable differences too, since each one touches over different topics, approach their audience and navigate the city differently. A consequent step was to balance the differences that were related to the nature of the research, e.g., my own limitations or the amount of information I was able to gather from each movement depending on their availability during my research time frame. Hence, the findings selected for final discussion represent the intersections among organizations and activists that were likewise relevant to the research triangle. Focusing rather on how they connect at the level of process, not at the level of final products, and the relation between the different practices, projects, and specific motivations. (Timm Knudsen & Stage, 2015) 24 The final argumentation around the research findings (see chapters 2 and 5), unfolds on three identified dimensions: the shared characteristics of the contemporary social movements in Chihuahua City, their perceived challenges and proposal to overcome them, and the created spaces for social change. Finally, once findings were clearly identified, the still missing information needed to complete the final argumentation, was further reviewed and included in the context brief and theoretical framework sections. Additional references were obtained during previous or additional literature and context reviews. 3.7. Methodological notes I did all translations from Spanish to English, including quotes from research participant, and for the purposes of the present document only. Additional small translations from Rarámuri to English were confirmed online. All publications by research participants referred on this document were originally in gender-neutral Spanish. The present literature review is not limitative and was rather selected from direct references obtained during different steps of the field research. Authors; including Lefebvre, Harvey, Easterling, Bookchin, Centola et al, Freire, Guattari, and Artaud, along with national references like the Zapatista movement; where mentioned by at least one of the research participants. Movimiento Malinche was not available for interview during the data-gathering stage of the present research; nevertheless, I continued to review their social media publications given the relevance of their cause. Further justification of including the data analysis from this organization is elaborated on the following sections through the correspondent findings description. The information selected for analysis represents the intersections among organizations that were relevant to the research triangle. Much valuable information and interesting findings were not included given the time frame and space limitations of this document. Further research would reveal more detailed information from each organization, participant, project, events and the infinite possible relations among them. 25 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The four local organizations that were selected as research participants for the present research are: Wikipolítica Chihuahua [Chihuahua Wikipolitics], Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures], Nortejiendo [short for: northern weaving], and Movimiento Malinche [Malinche Movement]. I first approached the four organizations in person through informal conversations or participant observation of their meetings. I was able to identify general shared characteristics like: all local based or localized, bottom-up, not institutionalized nor formalized organizations, aiming for some kind of social change. Additional and most relevant insights uncovered during the social media review are the following: (i) The social change that organizations present through their discourses, mainly include issues like a new way of doing politics, community building, voice the oppression and support the struggle of vulnerable groups, such as migrants and women, all with a human rights perspective. (ii) The selected organizations have at least two years of working experience as a group. (iii) Organizers are all on their late 20’s or 30’s with different professional training, such as: creative designers, engineers, graphic artists, architects, ecologists. Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures] is the only identified group organized by students, in this case performing arts students. (iv) Social media platforms including: Facebook, Whatsapp groups, Instagram, Twitter, Wordpress, and Medium, are the prevailing communication tool, through which organizations make public their discourses, achievements, complaints, share latest news, organized their events, amongst others. (v) Most of their meetings take place somewhere in Chihuahua’s City Center area. On the one hand, organizations expressed their efforts to be inclusive, respectful, and open to all people. On the other hand, they are aware of their own limitations, such as their privileged social position, lack of funding and reach-out means, limited perspective and working capacities. 26 After the preliminary conversations and social media review was conducted, my first general impression was that the four selected research participants had a very clear idea on the changes that are needed in Chihuahua, however, they have more questions than answers on the ways achieve those changes. In other words, the goals, objectives and challenges are clearly identified, but the know-hows had to be creative. The localized knowledge that is created, tested, and recreated, along the working experience of these four organizations is the main interest of the present thesis. Thus, all steps of the research followed the insights obtained during the preliminary conversations and social media review aiming to better understand their empirical learning, on how they relate to space and place (Chihuahua City) and their audience (Chihuahua’s inhabitants), though indepth semi-structured interviews, and participant observation of some of their events. After in depth interviews were conducted, main findings were identified across organizations. None of the interviewed organizers recognized its organization as a social movement; they all started from scratch, learned and continue learning on the go. None of the organizations could name specific beneficiaries of their projects, aside from collaborators and participants. The questions regarding Chihuahua City mostly implied an answer that included three dimensions: the urban space and place, the Municipality, and Chihuahua citizens. Findings were found on the intersection of these three aspects of the City. 4.1. Movimiento Maliche11 [Malinche Movement] Movimiento Malinche has active online profiles in two main social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter, as well as Instagram and Wordpress, with information about their discourse and positioning, along with their causes and events (Movimiento Malinche, 2017; 2018). Through these platforms the organization presents itself as follows: “Movimiento Malinche [Malinche Movement] is an autonomous space, of free diffusion and organization, from and for women (witches, feminists, rebels, mothers, non-mothers, queer, trans, non-heteronormative, savage, free) [...] guided by self- 11 La Malinche was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, given as slave to the Spaniards by the natives in 1519, historically presented as the interpreter, advisor, and intermediary for the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche 27 defense, self-care, dialogue, love and struggle.” (Movimiento Malinche, 2017:Facebook) 12 4.1.1. Events They use public space for public assemblies, public manifestations and protests. Their latest events posted include: Rodada Malinche #LasCallesyLasNochesSonNuestras [Malinche Bike Ride. #TheStreetsAndNightsAreOurs], 8m Paro General Alianza Feminista Chihuahua [8m General Strike Chihuahua Feminist Alliance], Caminata y auditoría #CruzamosJuntas [Walk and audit, #WeCrossTogether], all in collaboration with different local organizations, and following one main objective: “Reclaim public spaces and the need to reappropriate them, because they exclude us, for the simple fact of being women, in the sense that they are dominated by men [...] we do not feel safe, for many reasons, some of them: street harassment, lack of awareness and road culture.” (Movimiento Malinche, 2019:Instagram)13 Although it was not possible to go further in depth with Movimiento Malinche [Malinche Movement] insights (see methodological notes), I decided to include my own findings from this organization for their relevance to this research. It was one of the Malinche organizers the first research interlocutor that utterly disagreed with my preliminary research assumption: there are no active social movements in Chihuahua. She invited me to join their next public assembly. This event proved wrong my preliminary assumption and consequently made my research approach change radically. 14 I attended the public assembly event as a participant observer. This event took place during the late afternoon in a small park at Chihuahua City Center called El Parque del Marro. I learned later on that this place was frequently used by most of the selected organizations because its accessibility within the City, not only given its location but also its closeness to several public transport stations. 12 https://www.facebook.com/pg/movmalinche/about/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BumFhaBhVIv/ 14 https://www.instagram.com/p/Boid8SaFQuV/ 13 28 Attendants to this public assembly were only women. They shared their personal experiences and deep concerns related to issues like reproductive health and gender security, and agreed on a safety strategy for the march that was taking place the next day: a meeting point close to the event, social platforms as communication channels, emergency follow-ups, among other. The conversation held during this public assembly, and the fact that I was able to relate as a female to many of the narrated experiences, reminded me that there is plenty to learn about how entangled the feminist cause is to the City. Additionally, as I continued to follow the social media platforms of the four selected organizations, I realized merely through their shared events, that Movimiento Malinche is the organization that most occupied the streets out of the four organizations, during this research timeframe; actively claiming in the urban space the right of women to feel safe. Whether collaborating or organizing events such as public assemblies, manifestations, walks, street audits, and bike rides throughout the unfolding of this research. 4.1.2. Findings Movimiento Malinche is the second local organization that requests the right to public hearing, one of the legal instruments included in the local citizen participation law (LPCECh, 2018:Art. 63) that concerns the working experience of other organizations and activists, including Wikipolítica Chihuahua. The request made on March 29th was posted on their social media networks and private groups. 15 Movimiento Malinche [Malinche Movement] together with several local organizations, are sharing their empirical learnings and knowledge to push forward each other causes. The affective networks that these organizations have created and are working upon, was a finding first identified at the only Malinche event I was able to observe, and further analyzed as the research project developed. Whether these networks were intentionally created and what are the stories behind this process became a question to explore in the next stages of the research. 15 https://twitter.com/MalinchesLibres/status/1112060194744221696 29 4.2. Wikipolítica Chihuahua [Chihuahua Wikipolitics] Wikipolítica Chihuahua has active online profiles in two main social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter, and additional activity on Instagram and Medium platforms. With information about their discourse, positioning, public complaints, and information about projects and events including live streaming for most of them (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2016; 2017). Through these platforms the organization presents itself as follows: “We are a citizen political organization without partisan affiliations. We experiment with a new way of doing politics through collectivity and technology. (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2016:Facebook) 16 Wikipolítica is a Mexican national effort to reposition the role of the community in the political process (Wikipolítica, 2015). It was created with the collaboration of former members of a student movement called #YoSoy132 that emerged in 2012 as protest to the manipulation of the Mexican media during the campaign of former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (Villegas, 2018). According to their official webpage there are 10 Wikipolítica nodes today in different States of the Country including Chihuahua.17 The principles that Wikipolítica presents for the organization, operation and actions of all Wikipolítica nodes, as drivers of an alternative road, in which the institutional and civic life coexist are: real democracy, human rights, collective construction, and localism. (Wikipolítica, 2015) In addition to those four principles Wikipolítica Chihuahua presents as fundamental principles to, the national and local objectives; accountability, social justice, disruptive innovation, collective intelligence, political pedagogy, openness, radical inclusion, and feminism. (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2016: Facebook) 16 Along with standards of behavior as the values that: “altogether express the ideal and collective vision of acting in politics of all the people18 of Wikipolítica, defend, subscribe and 16 https://www.facebook.com/pg/WikipoliticaChih/about/ 17 http://wikipolitica.mx/ 18 “All the people” or “the people” is a term intentionally used by Wikipolítica Chihuahua as a gender-aware alternative to masculine generics of the Spanish language. Masculine generics is the use masculine nouns of person to designate all individuals, whether male or female. (Kaufmann & Bohner, 2014). 30 share: honesty, solidarity, community, deliberation, resilience, and sustainability.” Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2016: Facebook) 16 Wikipolítica Chihuahua latest projects involve the demand, strive, draft, and enforcement of the local citizen participation law (LPCECh, 2018), through two of its social participation instruments: participatory budget and public hearing. Events organized in collaboration with different organizations entail planning and implementation these instruments, starting from January this year. (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2018:Medium) 4.2.1. Events I was able to conduct long-distance observation through the live-streaming of “Presupuestos hecho por las personas para las personas” [Budgets made by the people for the people], and participant observation of “Salvemos el Cerro Grande” [Let us save Cerro Grande hill]. The first event regarding participatory budget was called “Presupuestos hecho por las personas para las personas” [Budgets made by the people for the people]. The open invitation, posted by Wikipolitica Chihuahua’s through their Facebook page, claims: “Very few people decide how money is used in Chihuahua, we also want to decide! See you tomorrow to start planning this! - I feel excited.”(Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2019:Facebook)19 This event was held on January 31st at the “Red por la Participación Ciudadana” [Citizen Participation Network] office located in Chihuahua City Center, and shared through live-streaming20. The attendants to this event were more than expected, as there were several mentions about the space being insufficient. Representatives of at least 15 organizations voiced some of their concerns and highlighted their appreciation with the event topic and the young audience interest. The first public hearing was called “Salvemos el Cerro Grande” [Let’s save Cerro Grande hill]; promoted through the citizen participation law that was actively pushed by Wikipolítica Chihuahua last year. 19 20 https://www.facebook.com/events/2284524518455836/ https://www.facebook.com/WikipoliticaChih/videos/776712919364373/ 31 This event was requested to the local authorities by another local organization called Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua21 [Let's save the hills of Chihuahua] with the collaborative support and legal advice from Wikipolítica Chihuahua. The open invitation, posted by Salvemos los Cerros de Chihuahua [let's save the hills of Chihuahua] and shared by Wikipolitica Chihuahua’s Facebook page, claims: “We already have the date, place, time, and methodology. We invite you to participate in this public hearing, where we will make an exposition of the arguments and evidence before the authorities, society and the media, with the objective of democratically exercising our rights as a civilian population to defend the historical and natural heritage of Chihuahua”. (Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua, 2019:Facebook)22 This event was held on February 18th at the Plaza de Armas, the public square located in Chihuahua City Center, in front of the Municipal authorities and the State Congress offices, and also shared through live-streaming.23 I observed the attendance of over 400 people. Two tables were set in front of the Municipality building facing to the Plaza de Armas square; members of Wikipolítica Chihuahua and Salvemos los Cerros de Chihuahua were seated on one table, and members of the Municipal authorities on the second table. The methodology of the event consisted on equal rounds of statements and replicas by each side: the organizations that were regarded as collectives for this event, and the local authorities. The collectives demanded the suspension of the construction of a gas station on the perimeter of one of the three emblematic hills of Chihuahua City, as well as the corresponding repair of environmental damages. Although the local authorities explained why the construction of the gas station was legally allowed because it did not represent any environmental risks, this event concluded with a public denunciation of corruption and collusion of local authorities and private companies in the construction and development of one of the City's emblematic and protected areas. 21 https://www.facebook.com/salvemosloscerrosdecuu/ https://www.facebook.com/salvemosloscerrosdecuu/photos/a.698174250289265/1765853040188042/ 23 https://www.facebook.com/WikipoliticaChih/videos/344304636170410/ 22 32 Some of the subsequent public complaints made by Wikipolitica Chihuahua through their social media platforms regarding the latter events, include arguments advocating for the right to the city, and the lack of access to what they consider should be a public space; in this case the participatory budget committee meeting at the City Council: “Once the vote is exercised, the participation of the people ends, everything else is left to the team of bureaucrats supposedly sensitized on issues of right to the city. There is no follow-up or evaluation [...]. The proposal is limited to casting a vote [...] a crude simulation of participation. [...]the lack of sensitivity of council members who believe that they are doing us a favor by letting us in a committee meeting, as if the public [affairs] were only theirs.” (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2019:Facebook) 24 The latest positioning made by Wikipolítica Chihuahua through their Facebook page regarding the restructuring process on the national networks, rejects the intend to participate in any electoral processes, claiming the importance of localism for each Wikipolítica node: “… each node works from its reality to achieve the Principles and Values on which the construction of our network is based.” (Wikipolítica Chihuahua, 2019:Twitter) 25 Reiterating that they seek to increase real citizen participation, that it is the people who make the decisions from a direct and participatory democracy, as opposed to representative democracy, an obsolete model that simulates the participation. 4.2.2. In-depth interviews Two organizers from Wikipolítica Chihuahua were available for separate interviews. The first one was conducted and recorded via phone call. The second one was conducted in person. They both struggled to define the organization with fixed concepts, appealing to keep their freedom to act. “We didn’t know what we were doing, we were just doing it” (Interview EM1.1) 24 25 https://www.facebook.com/WikipoliticaChih/videos/2067279786718257/ https://twitter.com/WikipoliticaCHI/status/1091018580244582401 33 A highlight of both interviews is the use of localized concepts, as well as applied literature that respond to Chihuahua’s problematic according to their insights. Self defined terms like: radical democracy and real participation as opposed to representative simulation; together with all the people, people’s perspective, people's schedule, radical inclusion, budget for the people, and open government. Along with the application of existing concepts like the right to the city (Lefebvre, 1996), accumulation by dispossession, creative destruction (Harvey, 2008), existing theories like: extrastatecraft (Easterling, 2016); libertarian municipalism (Bookchin, 1991), tipping points (Centola et al, 2018), critical pedagogy (Freire, 1988), and national references like the Declarations of the Lacandona Jungle from the Zapatista Army for National Liberation26; to answer questions like: “How to create radical democracy, one that includes the voices that are not normally included? How do you engage business stakeholders? How can we design critical pedagogy processes so that people have the tools to make decisions that are not influenced by the interests of someone else -not even ours?” (Interview EM1.2) Potential answers to these questions include the creation of critical mass, reclaiming spaces that make it possible in the city and its social fabric, according to their experience: “We working on opening those spaces, we are just starting to talk about the perspective of people here: accessible schedules, places, and public transport that make participation possible, is something that no one is talking about. We have recognized its importance through our own experience...” (Interview EM1.1) Ultimately, Wikipolítica Chihuahua argues for the importance to make possible and accept the social responsibility to have a complete understanding of the reality of all people. They claim that there are structural obstacles for real participation, and thus direct democracy; regarding people's schedule (authorities opening participation during people's working hours), meeting places (meetings taking place at the locations that are not accessible to all people), and public violence (local high violence rates); but also access to accurate and relevant information along with tools to understand what that information means. 26 http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/ 34 “I hate the way in which Chihuahua was made, it disconnects you from reality in a very wrong way [...] that side is a different city from the city on this side…” (Interview EM1.1) “Chihuahua is divided in two sides: the rich side and the poor side [...] this fragmentation made possible the violence that we live today…” (Interview EM1.2) As they recognize the privileged position that has grant them the time and access to cultural media in order to be able to realize a broader perspective of the problem, organize, and work towards social change; they claim they are trying to find the ways to bring forward the voices that do not have that position, and claim that local authorities are not operationally capable to face this scenario. Moreover, they are aware that their own working team is not enough for everything that needs to be done; mentioning deserting members given the group’s disorganization, lack of participation, and the yet not met objective of incorporating a feminist perspective through the collaboration with female participants. One specific strategy they named to face the limitations of their own capacities is the creation of bigger a collaborative network, asserting that: “We are trying to experience new things nourishing ourselves with other people's knowledge to understand how we could get to more people [...] collective intelligence processes to use the networks and technology in our favor [...] a neglected way to measure the benefit from social movements: the networks they wove. (Interview EM1.2) Along with the hacks they have implemented as means to get visibility and access to key information, and change the way the City is made, like media circus and insider informants: “We started hacking politics with a media circus, that was our great strategy [...] we confronted them with studied arguments [...] we started talking with their advisors (Interview EA.1) “Many people inside also want things to change [...] they gave us first-hand information. We live-streamed their negative statements [...] it became a joke, we 35 started to win friends in the media, they said ‘at last something interesting happens here’ and they featured our posts [...] politicians are not used to be uncovered and any degree of visibility breaks them...” (Interview EM1.2) 4.2.3. Findings Wikipolítica Chihuahua argues for the importance to make possible and accept the social responsibility to have a complete understanding of the reality of all people. They claim that there are structural obstacles for real participation, and thus direct democracy. Not only using public space as a place for real participation, they are also exploring ways of making it accessible to all people. Challenging the idea of the public through hacks like live-streaming the privatized public spaces and places (e.g., local Congress sessions). Both of the legal instruments that are being pushed for implementation by Wikipolítica Chihuahua have opened public discussions around urban development topics bringing to the front overlooked imperatives like citizen participation and the right to the city. On their interviews Wikipolítica Chihuahua described different ways in which the constitutional right to the city (LGAHOTDU, 2016:Art. 4-I) is overlooked in Chihuahua and talked about projects and collaborations with other organizations that aim to uncover the real interests behind those decisions, confront them in order to allocate political costs to the people that are responsible, and start changing the ways in which the City is made. During the public hearing the people from Chihuahua were able to raise their voice in a public space, along with the audience realization of the poor and highly questionable argumentation from local authorities, and the consequent considerable response in local media and social networks represents the overall benefit Wikipolítica Chihuahua is working for: new ways of doing politics. 4.3. Creaturas27 Escénicas [Scenic Creatures] Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures] has active online profiles in two main social media platforms: Facebook and Wordpress, as well as Instagram, with information about their discourse, positioning, projects, and information of events. Through their platforms, this 27 The word creaturas is intentionally misspelled to bring two different Spanish words together: crear [create] and criaturas [creatures]. 36 art students’ organization presents itself as a performing arts collective that work with representative scenic devices for the oppressed: “We are Creaturas Escénicas [Scenic Creatures], we arrive bare foot, we are everywhere, imagining. Thank you for being part of the community”. 28 They intend to use the public space as a theater with the intention of opening real meeting alternatives, aiming to blur many kinds of frontiers and be able to go beyond the symbolic toward places where dialogue and community building is possible: “We ask ourselves how to build, through art, the scenic devices to produce community, create links with migrant comrades. Get to know their stories to be able to propose social changes from art. As artists we want to surpass the symbolic [...] as theater people we are we want to cross the border of the scenarios to be able to look at ourselves amongst the people, and recognize ourselves in any space with those who inhabit it.” One of their latest projects is Arte Correo Migrante [Migrant Mail Art], carried out as support to the Central American migrant caravans. This project is presented as a production that, far from intending to produce the aestheticization29 of migration, aims to make visible the transnational oppression and displacement of people, focusing on the stories that are written by migrants in letters that will cross the border through the post mail. The project conveys the following aphorism: “Every human being has the right to walk freely on our land [...] no human is illegal…” (Arte Correo Migrante, 2018c) The staging of this project has been held at different open spaces and scenarios. In the first place, at the a migrant shelter called Casa del Migrante Chihuahua 30 [House of the Migrant Chihuahua]; secondly at a pedestrian street called Paseo Victoria; and lately at an 28 https://www.facebook.com/pg/CreaturasEscenicas/about/ “The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life” (Benjamin, 1936) 30 https://www.facebook.com/pg/unodesietemigrando/about/ 29 37 independent theater company of the city of Chihuahua called Teatro Bárbaro31, all located in Chihuahua City Center and with open invitations posted through their social media. 4.3.1. Events The first published event held at Casa del Migrante Chihuahua [House of the Migrant Chihuahua] was called “Partes ausentes y rostros letra” [Absent parts and letter faces]. The open invitation was posted through their Instagram account 32, along with a short descriptions and pictures of the performance on their Wordpress (Arte Correo Migrante, 2018b). This event was held on September 9th as part of the second edition of FAN 2018. 10 “Performance that shows a glimpse of the results and process of Arte Correo Migrante.” (Arte Correo Migrante, 2018b) The open call to participate in the Encuentro de Solidaridad con Hermanas y Hermanos Migrantes [Solidarity Meeting with Migrant Sisters and Brothers] took place at the pedestrian street Paseo Victoria on October 27th last year. The open call was posted through their social media platforms, pronounced: “We sympathize with our Central American sisters and brothers on their way through Chihuahua [...] there is a lot to do around the migratory phenomenon, reason why we make a friendly invitation to the solidary encounter with people in displacement, with the intention of opening the dialogue with people who are hosted at Casa del Migrante Chihuahua.“ (Arte Correo Migrante, 2018a) Creaturas Escénicas held performances at Teatro Bárbaro on a weekly basis for three months, from January until March. The invitation posted on their social media platforms including a longer pronouncement on their Wordpress, which urges: “To reflect together what does it mean to be migrant. To cross the faults we call borders through other’s eyes and voices. To recognize ourselves in those stories that travel in letters, like bodies, with the intention of breaking the walls that are imposed 31 32 https://www.facebook.com/pg/teatrobarbaromx/about/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnctHv0leLh/ 38 on us [...] because every human being has the right to take care of each other and to walk freely in their home, the earth.” (Arte Correo Migrante, 2019) I was able to conduct participant observation of one of their performances. Four people (two children and two adults) from Honduras aiming to cross the border were in the audience; we, the attendants to the performance were ordered to stand on the stage and read the migrant’s stories. Attendants included people of all ages, foreigners, and human rights activists. Although Teatro Bárbaro it is an independent space, it is a private theater that charged for the entry, what was collected through ticket sales was donated to Casa del Migrante. I recognized the theater of the oppressed form as I played the migrant role and got to read one of their letters: “A woman came out drmatically saying—some bad guys who recently killed a migrant family from Honduras are coming—. And then the husband appears in the car—kids what you doing here? Migration people are coming, and you are lucky you have not been kidnapped by the cartels….” I was able to have a conversation with one of the migrants. He told me that, that one was his third try to cross the border, some of his negative experiences along the way, and finally revealed he was hesistant to trust the people that drove him to the theater… “I was nervous to get inside the van…” 4.3.2.In-depth interviews One organizer from Creaturas Escénicas was available to interview via phone call. An interesting discovery of this conversation is that the project was first conceived only as a scenic arts project that continues to evolve quite organically as they move forward, from writing and performing scenic devices, to writing and performing collectively mail art33, to blurring lines with artistic devices: 33 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_art 39 “We don’t have everything planned, this project is alive, it moves, we have to understand it in order to plan the next strategies [...] I do not see myself finishing this project, it’s a life plan...” (Interview EM2.1) They confirmed their intention of moving their performances outside the theaters and into the community through the use of unconventional devices like: solidary social encounters, the working together with displaced communities as stage, a way of conducting social research, understanding the community ethics through their myths and rituals: “rituals are like open books, but performed in actions...” (Interview EM2.1) Their current project, Arte Correo Migrante [Migrant Mail Art], was created from migrant stories with the ultimate aim to act as an empathic facilitator; then performed on stage so that people can find themselves in the place of another. Such encounters are turned again into letters that are currently hanging in the migrant shelter as support demonstrations, and intend to eventually cross the border as mail art. “We asked them to write their stories, complaints, or anything they wanted to say. With the paper as an extension of the human body [...] we can, at least symbolically, help them to cross the border sending those letters as art mail to be exhibited...” (Interview EM2.1) It seems like the creation of collaborative networks emerged quite unintentionally for Creaturas Escénicas, however, their work with migrant, national and local displaced communities brought them to collaborate with different organizations and human rights activists. (Interview EA.4) “We are doing art with the people, from a determined space and context, we are analyzing the political processes with the compas34, new art pieces come up from there [...] human rights people came to us because of our political position, we didn’t originally intend that political interpretation…” (Interview EM2.1) The main challenges they have faced so far entail the spatial power structures that alter the understanding of people and their potential encounters. On the one hand, having to earn the trust of peoples in displacement situation to be able to enter their communities, or 34 Compas is is an abbreviation of compañeros and compañeras, terms frequently used by members of Creaturas Escénicas and other national groups like the Zapatistas. One translation to English can be the word comrade. 40 prove that they are not a looking for profit. On the other hand, having to face Chihuahua’s social discrimination towards Central American and Indigenous communities. “We are all participants in the same social scene, which in this case is Chihuahua. Chihuahua is a geographical and urban space where deterritorialization of certain communities is happening, they are disappearing, the City devours it all [...] even the indigenous school courtyards are controlled by non indigenous teachers…” (Interview EM2.1) Creaturas Escénicas projects may go beyond ephemeral art pieces and dynamics for community building. They have collected enough stories in order to be able to consider the possibility to turn them into a collaborative editorial project: “[...] compas write and send us their texts, they say that no one had given them the opportunity, that nobody wanted to listen to them…” (Interview EM2.1) 4.3.3.Findings Creaturas Escénicas not only uses their social media platforms to pronounce their solidarity and support to the people traveling with the migrant caravan, they extend their “cheerful rebellion” to the Indigenous and the Zapatista autonomous communities who are also facing displacement inside the State and the Country, and condemn every act of repression towards them, denouncing the federal administration that took office this year: “We join their rejection of its double discourse, a strategy of mass seduction by the current Mexican President. [...] The Rarámuri 35 people are being beaten, murdered and displaced from their rural and urban territories by politicians and businessmen who promote supposed welfare and justice projects”. (Arte Correo Migrante, 2019) Through their discourse Creaturas Escénicas manifest solidarity to the displaced communities throughout the world and argues that the commodification of space and place is not only causing suffering of hundreds of thousands of people but also annihilates the possibility of organization towards social change. 35 The Rarámuri (or Tarahumara) are a group of Indigenous people of the Americas living in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rarámuri 41 4.4. Nortejiendo [Northern Weaving] Nortejiendo [short for: northern weaving] has active online profiles in two main social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram, with information about their discourse, positioning, and information about projects and events. Through these platforms the organization presents itself as follows: “Nortejiendo is a group of people who do urban experimentation through weaving, generating community and sense of belonging to promote social awareness.” 36 This organization offers free weaving lessons in exchange for collaboration and cooperation in Nortejiendo social projects. They show flexible to participants’ preferences and possibilities regarding skills, availability, and reach; moreover, encouraging them to propose their own projects. “Nortejiendo is not an obligation; each person collaborates, creates, and nourishes from their hearts”. 30 4.4.1. Events Nortejiendo meets regularly the last Thursday of each month to work collaboratively on different projects. Latest projects being: Entrelazando los Abrazos [Weaving Hugs], Nortejiendo da la mano [Nortejiendo holds hands], and Proyecto Kárare vol.II [Shade Project vol.II]; all involving collaborative weaving and several working meetings at different places of the city, with specific social purposes, materials, weaving techniques, and scales. The second edition of Entrelazando los Abrazos [Weaving Hugs] was an open call for raw materials, weaved pieces, or collaboration in weaving sessions. The objective is to turn these pieces into ponchos, scarves, hats, and gloves for them to be donated to the people that wait for family members outside the Hospital Infantil de Especialidades de Chihuahua [Specialties Children's Hospital of Chihuahua]. “We went to the Children's Hospital last Sunday, December 16, to deliver all the pieces woven with love and patience by all the Nortejedorxs 37; 22 ponchos, 48 hats, 4 36 https://www.facebook.com/pg/nortejiendo/about/ 42 gloves, 2 collars and 12 scarves were donates. People also brought burritos and juices to share. We are very grateful with all the hands and hearts involved, let's hope that they warm up and be a relief to many people. Thanks Nortejedorxs!” 38 This project was carried out each Thursday from October to December of 2018 at different places around the City, including coffee places, barbershops, public libraries, and the Children's Hospital. Nortejiendo da la mano [Nortejiendo holds hands] is a project proposed by one of Nortejiendo participants, supported and promoted on the organization’s social media platforms, through the voice of the participant that proposed the project. “The call of #DameLaMano [give me a hand] is to weave bracelets as part of the campaign that arises from the need to take care of ourselves as women, due to a constant situation of violence and insecurity that we live […]” 39 This project was carried out each Thursday from January to March of this year also at different places around the City, and culminated at the Women’s March held in Chihuahua’s City Center, with the distribution of 188 purple bracelets. The current project is the second edition of Proyecto Kárare40 vol.II [Shade Project vol.II] an open call for collaborative weaving of elements that provide shade for the courtyard of the Escuela Primaria Indígena Ténōch [Ténōch Indigenous Elementary School]. 4.4.2. In-depth interviews Two Nortejiendo organizers were available for interview, separately, through Whatsapp voice messages (Interviews EM3.1 and EM3.2). An obligated question for them was: how did they learned to weave or knit? It was interesting to find out they both learned at Nortejiendo sessions. None was a founding member but they referred me to on of the founders, whom I interviewed later as an activist (Interview EA3). 37 Nortejedorxs is the word used by Nortejiendo to refer to the participants of the projects, short for northern weavers. The x is an informal way to remark gender neutrality, another gender-aware alternative term. 38 https://www.instagram.com/p/Br3kYgGh83V/ 39 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt42uNVBq-G/ 40 "Kárare" means "shadow" in the Rarámuri language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara_language 43 Causes of Nortejiendo include skill-shares for awareness, community building, and social change. Good quality of their finished pieces, sharing their positive outcomes, and the openness and flexibility of their projects, were mentioned as their clue factors to keep participants motivated and willing to donate their time or resources with affection. The main beneficiaries of Nortejiendo are the people that participate at their projects and meetings, according to their organizers: “The first beneficiaries are the people that participate at Nortejiendo sessions: they learn one more skill, create new connexions, break communication barriers even amongst strangers; because we share an interest, our stories and viewpoints, we bond through yarn” (Interview EM3.1) The urban experimentation that is part of the organization’s description, have resulted in their yarnbombing interventions were immediately removed from the public space by local authorities: “What I would change about Chihuahua City is the preconceived idea that knitting is only for old ladies or for women [...] or that is only about knitting beanies or scarfs [...] when we do yarn bombing installations in the public space, local authorities remove them right away [...] once it’s there is not longer yours…” (Interview EM3.1) 4.4.3. Findings The interventions of Nortejiendo in the urban space aim for the open exchange of knowledge, skills, and experiences for social awareness; and for the collaborative design and construction of urban elements (e.g., shades or yarn bombing) that prompts encounter, as “an exercise of reflection on the city and the social dynamics that develop in the space that unites or separates us.” 41 Coordinators remarked the positive impact of their collaborative networks, through which more people come to know about their organization and participate on their projects. They assert this is also how they find inspiration, new skills, knowledge, and even material donations. 41 https://www.instagram.com/p/BtPZ8oPBhVU/ 44 However, the perceived challenges and limitations that Nortejiendo has faced so far are precisely around their audience recalling participation inconsistency and lack of urban space that is open to intervention, and available working places where their projects could escalate. 4.5. Local Activists Four additional interviews were conducted with the participation of local activists that were mentioned during previous interviews, or stages of this research. These stage of the research aims to unfold from a broader perspective some of the issues that were raised by the organizations. The four interviewed activists are female professionals. They provided an expert perspective on relevant subjects like urbanism, ecology, architecture, art, culture, community building and social psychology. Their experience covers from six to eight years at least one of the aforementioned topics from diverse positions and platforms, including the conception, coordination, collaboration or participation at different social manifestations, independent projects, non-governmental and civil organizations, as well as governmental and academic institutions. The first question I asked to activists was a hypothetical one (see methodological section): what would they magically change in Chihuahua if they could? Their answers included: social participation, silence, collective knowledge, and human rights. The core changes activist argued for are: real participation to bridge the gap amongst all the people and the City; silence so we can listen the struggles of the excluded communities, and understand its historical dimension; access to collective knowledge for all to be able to better organize our communities and; a City that complies with human rights and responsive to real social necessities. I believe that social movement should, first of all, be silence. The silence that makes us keep our feet on the ground and realize our surroundings —I'm in Chihuahua, I'm here, and who should I listen to? — that's the most important thing: who should we listen to? (Interview EA2) Although no explicit questions were asked in reference to any other conducted 45 interview, many of the organizer’s statements were confirmed in this second round of conversations: the amount of information institutions hold that is unintelligible to people, the lack of social participation, the sense of a fragmented City, the displacement of communities, the need for social cohesion in order to achieve awareness. There is a great sense of social disconnection, I would my magic wand to reconnect and activate people. (Interview EA1) “When you are working in a goverment entity, such as the legislative branch, you have access to an incredible amount information [...] that information belongs to all citizens […] I gave that information to social organizations...” (Interview EA1) A new finding that arose when looking at the bigger picture of social movements in Chihuahua is that activist currently perceive defenseless situations, such as: violence, the withdrawal of civil organizations, and a gap amongst the people that could financially or otherwise support the social causes and the people that are actually doing the work. “We are in a very interesting process of the State of Chihuahua, right now: the alliance of the Government of Javier Corral with the civil associations of Chihuahua. Many activists that have worked for human rights in the past, are now working from some government position.” (Interview EA2) “It is important to mention, because it seems like taking one leg off the table and of the whole social process. We will have to wait for this government to end and to see the results.” (Interview EA2) “I started with activism around 2010, when panic took over the City, a giant collective psychosis. People locked themselves in their small security circles like their cars, or their houses.” (Interview EA4) “Yes, they locked themselves in, but… they didn’t leave.” (Interview EA3) The importance of motivation and of the affective factor on the creation of collaborative networks was reinforced during these conversations. “There is this park that, well, it's not a park, it's this median strip where the Marro Café is. Well, that place is where the Malinches meet; unintentionally the wikis and Nortejiendo also meet there. The wiki-park is also the Malinche spot and the 46 Nortejiendo corner. I think it's because it's close to the bus station is and it's easier to get there.” (Interview EA3) “We all know each other…” (Interview EA4) In March, the women’s month, we organized a bike ride on high heels. The only time I really thought that its purpose was fulfilled was when several male people arrived and rode their bikes wearing high heels. (Interview EA4) The general negative perception towards activists, protests and social manifestations was another statement made evident by three of the four interviewed activists, along with the exhaustion that comes as a consequence. “I’m a secret activist” (Interview EA1) “Activism is not positively perceived in Mexico” (Interview EA2) “What does it feel like not to be affected? My friends tell me that I feel too much, like if it was something negative. For me activism is very important but it’s also overwhelming.” (Interview EA2) Local activist in Chihuahua are acting as bridges of information and knowledge, either intentionally or unintentionally, participating in more than one social movement they are the experts, the informants, connectors, founders, teachers, mentors, and leaders of social change. There is a gap between those who can financially help and those who are doing all the work on the field. There are many possibilities of bridging this gap, but it requires effort from both sides. (Interview EA4) 47 5. DISCUSSION: resistance is ultimately constructive. The present section reflects over the information obtained throughout the present research, the intersections amongst all the research participants and their perception toward the City different dimensions, along with the identified connections to the relevant literature and context background. As an introductory statement of the following discussion, I want to acknowledge the overuse of the word new, even though this characteristic can be easily dismissed when the discussion if about a society that is permanently changing, or worse, around social movements that aim for change. In contrast, the intention here is to hopefully share a more useful way to analyze the phenomena: the social interactions and the spatial implications of the mechanisms enabled by such transformations. 5.1. New Social Movements in Chihuahua: “what’s ‘new’?” 42 —“We didn’t know what we were doing, we were just doing it” (Interview EM1.1) Although first theorist of the new social movements (Melucci, 1980; Habermas, 1981) award the new characteristics of social movements to postindustrial and postmodern western societies of the late 1960’s, the present research was able to identify some of these characteristics on the contemporary organizations of Chihuahua City, an industrial city of the Global South. Closer to what Guattari and Rolnik described from the 1982 Brazil, the following are some identified intersections of the new social movements’ theories and contributions with the findings described in the previous chapter. General similarities include the description of the organizers of the new social movements; coming mostly from middle classes and younger generations “with high levels of formal education” and ”great sensitivity”. Along with their objectives and concern (see 42 In reference to the title: Habermas and social movements: what’s ‘new’? (Edwards, 2004) 48 Habermas’ “green” problems) addressing more than one issue, or an interconnectedness of subjective issues (Habermas, 1981). On this regard, several issues were found to interconnect amongst the selected organizations: the new politics that are explored by Wikipolítica Chihuahua connects to access to cultural media, as EA3 demands; and direct participation, an issue also raised by EA1. The environmental and feminist causes raised through direct participation mechanisms by Salvemos los Cerros de Chihuahua, Movimiento Malinche and EA4, connects to human rights brought up by EA2, along with alternative ways of communitybuilding through street skillshares and performance arts, of Nortejiendo and Creaturas Escénicas, correspondingly. Melucci mentions direct participation or action, and the rejection of representation or leadership as characteristics of the new social movements, “since what is at stake is the reappropriation of identity” (Melucci, 1980:220). This idea resembles the organizational structure and vision identified in the four selected organizations and their collaborative networks: open organizations with strong and elastic boundaries, free space for exploring spontaneous ideas and learning new methods, permeable and accessible to all people. New social movements in Chihuahua City go beyond accentuating the social and cultural aspects over the economical or polítical, they rather use the latter as tools for achieving changes across lines that currently define social classes or groups, localities, or nationalities, but also invite people to rethink and redefine the abstract constructions of the everyday “forms of life”. Or in words of one of the members of Wikipolítica Chihuahua: "The cultural is also political" (Interview EM1.2) The strategies identified are definitely political but otherwise oriented toward the reappropriation of not only the life-world or the means of subjective production, but toward the molecular revolution that Guattari and Rolnik describe: free to construct their own references and praxis, at every level: infrapersonal, personal, and interpersonal that are independent from global power. (Guatarri & Rolnik, 2008) An interesting and already highly contested argument is the one made by Habermas, who remarks a differentiation amongst the social-integrative objectives of the new social movements and the feminist movements, determining that the latter as the only movement 49 that continues to work with the emancipatory tradition and offensive impetus. (Habermas, 1981:34) Beyond the historical critique that can be elaborated against Habermas assertion, I learned from the present research that organizations are also communicating from each other, or from such “differentiated positions”, if any. In the one hand, Movimiento Malinche is indeed an emancipatory movement fighting against patriarchal oppression, the only group that includes the word movement in their name, and the organization that most occupied the streets with an undeniable and necessary offensive impetus, as also stated by Habermas. (Habermas, 1981) On the other hand, they are also very much looking for a new arrangement or “forms of life” (Habermas, 1981:33); they also represent younger generations “with high levels of formal education” and ”great sensitivity” (Habermas, 1981:35); even fostering new forms of cooperation and community through affection, like sorority; and furthermore, this groups is putting to the service of their offensive position the legal instruments for social participation promoted by other social-integrative organizations like Wikipolítica Chihuahua. Another remarkable similarity is the one proposed as the second characteristic of the new social movements propose by Melucci: “the superposition of deviance and social movements”, explaining that any opposition to the “rules of existence”, even if they are imposed, necessarily generate conflict and thus takes the form of deviance. The latter impression was explicitly expressed on three out of four activists interviews: EA1 having to be a secret activist; EA2 literally expressing “activism is not well received in Mexico”, and EA4 making reference to the gap amongst activists and people with financial resources. The problems of Over-Complexity, and the burdens Communal Infra-Structure as approached by Habermas (1981:35-36) are implicit in the problematic posed by throughout the research and explicitly described by activists (EA2 & EA4). This challenges are faced through the urban hacks that each of these organizations operate, and the collaborative networks that are being constructed with shared identities and strategies, politics of affection, and the dynamics created from interwoven organizations. (Guatarri & Rolnik, 2008) The causes of the new social movements in Chihuahua include: women autonomy, 50 open government, social awareness, and community building; with tools like: hacking public spaces, local procedures, technologies and information; exchange of skills, knowledge and experience; public sisterhood, collaborative interventions, and encounter platforms like: performances, assemblies, public manifestations, walks, street audits, and bike rides. Regardless all the similarities found among the new social movements’ theories and the local organizations in Chihuahua City, I am still hesitant to impose a label for these organizations that are actively finding ways to adapt, reach, explore, connect, learn from their own situation, and continue to fight for all the people’s autonomy and self-modeling capacities (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:62). As written by Guattari making reference to molecular revolution “the name is not important” (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:61). However, the local flexible forms of organization help to challenge the social lines that currently delimits dichotomies like the private and the public, the collective and the individual, the beneficiaries, the participants and the leaders, along with material and subjective production and additional abstract values enunciated by Melucci and Habermas. In contrast, they also help to draw the connections amongst the citizens, the City authorities and the City urban space. 5.2. Urban Knowledge for / from Social Change: “the urban hacks” —“People don’t need the city here…” (Interview EA1) Is important to note that Zapatistas movement as presented by Funke (2014) and Nail (2012) is an example that not only the tangible destruction of the urban environment triggers protest, as posed by Habermas, but also a good example of the new social movements transnational scope and relevance. That important clarification being made, and focusing on the urban new social movements identified in Chihuahua, the present section discusses the learnings retrieved by these organizations from their experience in the urban space, and the lessons the may have in return, to the City including citizens and local authorities. 51 One relevant theoretical intersection is the approximation of the concepts of singularization as defined by Guattari and Rolnik (2008:62) and the contributions to the right to the city by Harvey (2013) and social movements like Abahlali baseMjondolo43. Just as singularization process entail freedom to construct own references and praxis, at every level, including the city. The right to the city view from Harvey’s approach goes beyond the right to what already exists, and toward the “freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves” (Harvey, 2008). Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), a South African shack dwellers' movements, problematizes both approaches to the right to the city bringing into the discussion the question who? Who are the people that have right to the City? How can we make sure that the right to the City is granted for all? A quote by one of the leaders of AbM that may illustrate how spatial proximity relates to this concerns: “my appeal is that leaders who are concerned about peoples’ lives must come and stay at least one week in the jondolos. They must feel the mud.” (S’bu Zikode, 2006:186) Concerns for the urban are present in the social movements of Chihuahua City not only as container of triggers, drivers, and resistance. Spatial proximity, or the possibility of contiguity of the space of place as described by Castells (1999) is a physical characteristic that prompts empathy: being able to place oneself in the place of another, to grasp a broader perception of reality, or in words from Guattari and Rolnik: freedom to capture “what is taking place around them” (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008:62) in order to ultimately achieve selfmodeling capacities. The new social movements in Chihuahua call structural obstacles in for direct participation of all the people such as overlapping working schedules, and lack of places that are safe and accessible for all (Interview EM1.1), others called no public places available for intervention (Interviews EM3.1, EA3, EA4), the annihilation of social change by the commodification of space and place (Interview EM2.1), and the public violence crisis that fragmented the urban fabric and paralyzed society (Interviews EM1.2, EA1). 43 http://abahlali.org/ 52 Local activists claim social participation (Interview EA1); access to collective knowledge (Interview EA3); access for historically excluded communities (Interview EA2); and human rights (Interview EA4) as tools to look for solutions. In contrast, the latest Urban Development Plan of the Municipality (IMPLAN, 2016:24) remarks the peripheral expansion of the City, the abandonment of central urban areas aggravated by the lack of connectivity and accessibility to recently developed44 areas (IMPLAN, 2016:33) which not only implies work and health centers, education, social assistance, recreation and culture facilities, but also substantiate the structural obstacles that social direct social participation face in Chihuahua City. It can therefore be assumed that the predominant challenge these organization face towards social change is the configuration of the City itself, on its three dimensions: citizens with no right to the city, a fragmented urban space, and detrimental city policies. Thus, new social movements operation in Chihuahua City entail a set of hacks to the city’s three dimensions that aim to reverse the perceived challenges in order to get to widen their reach, to collaborators, participants and networks. Towards and autonomous social praxis in the space of places or the new public space as defined by Castells (2015:11) Hacks to public spaces privatized by local authorities include Congress sessions, or local authorities questionable argumentation, making them public through livestream sessions; obtaining privatized public information from people inside Congress, or hacking technologies. Hacks to fragmented and insecure public spaces include yarnbombing, assemblies, marchs, walks, street audits, and bike rides. While hacks to a disconnected society entail public encounter platforms that foster the exchange of skills, knowledge and experiences; collaboration or participation on city manifestations, performances and interventions. Uncovering the rhizomatic characteristic brought to light by many authors (Guattari & Rolnik, 2008; Nail, 2012; Funke, 2014; Castells, 2015), the ultimate hack that I was able to identify in this research is a network of hacks, local social movements are exchanging their 44 New settlements located in peripheral areas present a high degree of marginalization and urban poverty, lack of access to basic infrastructure and public services (IMPLAN, 2016:24), mostly at the north and southeast of the City (Córdova & Romo, 2015:127). 53 learned skills to push forward each other causes, and local activist that participate in more than one social movement are acting as bridges of information and knowledge. 5.3. In the quest for a third space: bridging the gaps for affect —Yes, they locked themselves in, but… they didn’t leave. (Interview EA3) In order to explain why is empathy relevant to the causes of the new social movements I will expand a previously mentioned quote from the first interview conducted for this research: “I hate the way in which Chihuahua was made, it disconnects you from reality in a very wrong way [...] that side is a different city from the city on this side […] in which reality do you live? (Interview EM1.1) Empathy as the ability to grasp a broader sense of reality, putting oneself in another's place, is the only way to start bridging the gaps towards social change. I like to think this bridge may hold the multiple ideas and possibilities related to the third space that were explored and included in the present theoretical framework. The idea of a third space challenges binary conceptions, Soja for example argues that the right to the city cannot be reduced to the fight against capitalist effects in the urban space, he argues for spatial justice through the social reconstruction of what he calls the third space. (Soja, 2009) But what is the social change that the new social movements in Chihuahua City are working for? What would it physically look like? Much has been mentioned about the subjective dimension that the new social movements work toward like the reappropriation of subjective processes like; social production, public spaces and places, direct participation, no representation; and abstract resources; identity, creativity, information, knowledge, symbols, autonomy. (Melucci, 1980; Habermas, 1981). As I pointed out in the first part of this section, the new social movements in Chihuahua are already contributing to blur some lines between the private and the public, the collective and the individual, the participants and the leaders, the material and the subjective, along with lines that create hierarchies among genders, communities, natural and urban areas. In contrast, they also help to draw lines that connect citizens, the City authorities and the City 54 urban space, although the connecting elements aim to be open space or spaces. Indeed, objectives of the new social movements are abstract concepts that work toward the autonomous subjective processes, but they are very much triggered by a set of physically perceived factors, moreover all the hacks conducted by the new social movements in Chihuahua intentionally take place in the physically conceived environment, as visible or as tangible as possible. I consider these hacks a way to face the “problems of over-complexity”, and overcomer the “burdens on the communal infra-structure” posed by Habermas (1981:36), using as methods characteristics of the molecular revolution raised by Guattari and Rolnik (2008, 2015), such as autonomy and self-modeling capacities; through physical contiguity, the new public space, and the networked social movements as envisioned by Castells (1999, 2014, 2015). All identified methods and strategies aim the construction of radically inclusive spaces with a people perspective (Interview EM1.1), spaces and places for open communication among all collective identities, all people struggles, all hidden interests, all public and private spheres; and make visible the affections amongst them on the everyday life. The implications of the dimension of affect, or affection, for the new social movements was already glimpsed by many authors including Guattari45 and Rolnik (2008), and Castells (2015). Brian Massumi further elaborated on this concept and its autonomous potential, as it is independent from the subjects’ intentions. Massumi’s contributions (Massumi, 1995; Massumi & Manning, 2014) help blur again the lines that were used to differentiate the new characteristics of social movements: the mind and the body, the objective and the subjective, the tangible and the abstractions, the theory and the practice, all coming together to be able to make sense of, to quote Guattari & Rolnik, “what is taking place around us”. (2008:62) 45 Affect and affection (together with assemblage) are concepts already explored by Guattari in collaboration with Deleuze (Deleuze & Guattari, 2005). The definition of affect and affection that is used on the present document is further elaborated by the translator Brian Massumi, towards an assemblage thinking and parallel lines with actor-network theory. 55 I want to bring to the front the affective character of the hacks operated by the new social movements in Chihuahua City. Wikipolítica Chihuahua using institutional and media structures existing inside the system, the very structures they are challenging; Creaturas Escénicas incorporating the scenic and written arts with critical pedagogy methods like the theater of the oppressed (Freire, 1988); Nortejiendo claiming space through yarnbombing for people’s right to collectively dissent (Rancière, 2016). 46 The latter together with the fact that Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua and Movimiento Malinche are actively using the strategies and networks created by other movements, proves their ability to affect and to be affected, serving as evidence of affect being present as one of the drivers of the network of social movements in Chihuahua City. Learning from each other positive outcomes and experiences, but also from their limitations and failures. Techniques and platforms to bring people together, the importance of keeping motivation and how to achieve it, and the self-recognition of limitations are just a few examples that were observed throughout this research. The spatial lessons that can be learned from the network of social movements in Chihuahua go back to Castells idea of contiguity, where affect is possible but also where exposure and vulnerability are inevitable. Hence, the spaces and places for affect have to be safe and open to all people. The ability to affect and to be affected is not possible inside private security bubbles, or on a disconnected social fabric. I would argue that the new social movements in Chihuahua were both intentionally and unintentionally networked through affect, which proves the possibility of this happening on bigger scales when the objective is to move forward as a society. Following this logic, new social movements in Chihuahua are no longer defensive or offensive, as they are affective. However and beyond proving the possibility of what Guattari would call process of singularization, networked social movements in Chihuahua City are making possible to grasp the multiple dimensions of affect in order to be able as a society to best decide what should social change look like, the only way to achieve true social change. 46 https://vimeo.com/235821328 56 6. CONCLUSION Making reference to a declaration done by a participant of this research during our interview (Interview EM1.1), and to similar statements implicit in all conducted interviews: I agree that the new social movements in Chihuahua City do not know what they are doing, but they are indeed doing it. The autonomous, creative, radical-inclusive nature of their search for alternatives, make the new social change processes worth of attention, reflection, record and further in depth study. The present document is a call, not only for the sociology of social movements claimed by Melucci, but a call for we all to remain accountable of our social struggles. We cannot talk about the right to the city, or any other common right, if we are not able to understand that we all, humans and no-humans, affect each other. Social change agents raise the debate that may help us understand the affective dimensions of society. 6.1. Research limitations The present research posed several limitations. The very fact that the topic of study is a never-ending phenomenon (social change) presents in itself a challenge: to make a substantial account during a limited timeframe and format requirements. In order to overcome these limitations I analyzed the gathered information as steps toward a goal, and not as a final product. Furthermore, Chihuahua being my hometown represents both advantages and limitations. Advantages like facing very few cultural barriers, better understanding of the context and the people involved in the research topic; being able to go deeper into the research itself. A personal challenge was to acknowledge my own assumptions in order to set them aside, along with the potential biased information obtained from research participants. The fact that some of the interviews were held with acquaintances, it was important to be aware of their assumptions toward me, like holding me aware of certain local factors, and potentially omitting important information during our conversations. Additional theoretical limitations include the ones pertaining to its nature. Even though the present document is an intentional account of the practices that were 57 found directly on the field, remarking as a repeated finding the flexibility of dualities and the potential of affective methodologies; the present argumentation does not intend to serve as a guide or hold any sort of strategic suggestions for social change agents. The most this document can aspire to is to serve as informant of the contemporary practices and goals of social change, as a projection of our society endless aim to move forward. 6.2. Contributions According to Brenner (2009:199) the academic projects of critical social theory and of critical urban theory are as mutually intertwined as never before. Especially if we take into account the increasing regional integration processes and worldwide urbanization conditions. According to Edgar Pieterse, South African Research Chair in Urban Policy & Director of the African Center for Cities (ACC), space and place are crucial for effective development policy. His assessment of the international development scene brings up to the discussion the “regional thinking”, concluding that given the magnitude of contemporary challenges require regional responses: “a prioritisation of regional policy is imperative”. (Pieterse, 2008:155) The present argumentation is based on the potential that the knowledge production processes of the contemporary social movements may represent for social change, including global and regional transformations. The critical and empirical perspective of these networked social movements (Castells, 2014; 2015) can contribute to produce knowledge that is both localized and informed of larger scale entanglements. Considering that the cities in the Global South have historically emulated the development models of the Global North, the general contribution of this thesis is epistemological: we can learn from autonomous organizations in Chihuahua City and from their relation to the urban places and social spaces in order to rethink the development models for the Global South. 58 6.3. Further research Given the aforementioned time and formal limitations of the present thesis, I was not able to include in the present document every piece of information that was obtained throughout this research. Further research would made possible to reveal and elaborate on more detailed information from each organization, participants, project, events and the infinite possible relations. Some of the most relevant insights from this research that could further be explored are; (i) the role of gender in activism, as most of the local activists mentioned by coordinators of organizations were women, further research may unfold affective characteristics related to gender; (ii) the impact of autonomous creative practices for social change, as many of the members of the contemporary social movements in Chihuahua City include music, poetry, fanzines, theater, dance, amongst other forms of cultural expressions, as part of their events and activities. Further research may also include empirically grounded affect research methodology, as suggested by Timm Knudsed & Stage (2015) and applied to recent projects emerging in Chihuahua City, like the first open assemble of self-managed collectivities for the organization of the first encounter in the City of Chihuahua. Let's get to know each other, dialogue and think about the possibilities of forming networks; for the collective practical efforts, for the restoration of land and relationships, against centralization and hierarchies, for mutual support and initiatives at the micro level […] these rhizomes are already here and we must empower it through different forms of collaboration. 47 Incorporating the urban cartography of affect and the urban and the implications of actornetwork theories to overcome one of the present research challenges faced through the people that lives in Chihuahua City: probably the most difficult premise to grasp in advance, and throughout the research. 47 https://www.facebook.com/events/337122460270401/ 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ansotegui, E. (2018). El discurso zapatista después de Marcos: de la ficción a la realidad o al revés. Kamchatka. Revista de Análisis Cultural. https://doi.org/10.7203/KAM.12.12995 Arte Correo Migrante. (2018a). 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