This panel brings together diverse perspectives on Mexican activism throughout the 1970-90s. Centered around the actions of indigenous, leftist, and transgender actors, these papers examine moments of productive conflict between activists and state representatives—and sometimes even between competing activist organizations and members. Confronting censorship, violence, and state-sponsored repression, activists crafted alternative visions of the future that would come to have lasting impacts on Mexican society and social movements globally. Furthermore, these papers broadly consider how activists navigated rising neo-liberal constraints and the consolidation of government programs and power in order to make successful demands upon the state. In thinking through what activism meant and how it functioned in Mexico, the works presented here draw on sources and experiences beyond those produced exclusively by and for activists. Indeed, this panel asks us to reframe how we conceive of activism and what specifically constitutes an activist by demonstrating the wider-reach of community-based action.

Beginning with Robert Franco’s work, we confront the often-exclusionary nature of activist movements. Franco examines clashes between leftist activists in the Mexican Communist Party (PCM) and emerging queer and feminist groups, who held divergent visions of inclusivity and equality. This work forces us to consider the limitations of movements that prescribe definitions of liberation predicated on the needs of the majority while simultaneously curtailing actions of minoritized subjects. L.J. Brandli’s paper considers how transgender, transsexual, and travesti actors created spaces for themselves within the emerging gay and lesbian movement of the late 1970s in Mexico City. Precluded from the category of “healthy” with bodies deemed already diseased and deviant, trans and travesti communities created their own definitions of health and their own forms of medical knowledge in the pursuit of bodily autonomy. This paper seeks to decenter narratives of transness in Europe and the US as defining what constitutes contemporary transness by demonstrating the importance of Mexican actors on a global scale. Together, these works reframe our understanding of modern queer activism.

Moving from queerness to indigeneity, Eben Levey’s paper focuses on how indigenous activists redefined Mexican Catholicism in the late-twentieth century. Given the centrality of religious life within Mexico, their actions had repercussions that extended beyond the church and ultimately altered the social and political fabric of Mexico. Levey’s work asks us to consider both the limitations and possibilities of Liberation Theology. Lastly, Marcella Hardin’s work considers how Mexicans advocated for Guatemalan refugees throughout the 1980s and 1990s, redefining “Mexican-ness” in the process. By making demands on the Mexican state for Central Americans immigrants, activists opened up Mexico as a place of safety for outsiders while simultaneously defining it in opposition to its conflict-ridden neighbors. Paired together, these two papers interrogate the role of indigeneity in modern Mexico.

Taken as a whole, this panel touches on contemporary issues and provides historical lessons from the past. As a panel, we hope to spark an engaging discussion that pushes the state of the field forward regarding not only activism in Mexico but its impact on broader global community networks.