Spatial crossings: gender, race and politics in Yucatecan Maya municipalities

Abstract

This article analyses how power functions in symbolically important municipal locations-like city hall and the main square-to reinforce and/or confront gender, racial and ethnic spatial notions. Specifically, I focus on 18 female mayors and their administration in the Mexican state of Yucatán, for the 2012-2015 electoral period. Through this work, I emphasise how indigenous political mobilisation outside social 'the body' occupies to be a fundamental component of the articulation of political identities. I will demonstrate how female mayors in Maya municipalities enter into various forms of negotiation with their constituents regarding the concepts of body and space. Female Mayor Political party Married Children Education/ occupation Maya surname Speaks Maya Identifies as Maya 1 st woman candidate Previous relatives as mayor A PAN Yes 2 Accountant No No No Yes Yes, husband

Feminist political geographies: Critical reflections, new directions

“…These are vital asymmetries through which politics operate and political action manifests. As such, and urgently, feminist geographers must build on the imperatives and insights of queer, crip, decolonial, and anti-racist work (Faria and Mollett, 2020; Gahman, 2017; King, 2019; Loyola-Hernández, 2018; Naylor et al., 2018). While many pieces in this special issue, in step with wider shifts in the sub-field, reflect our progress, there remains much work to do.…”