The ‘Culture’ of Exclusion: Representations of Indigenous Women Street Vendors in Tijuana, Mexico

Abstract

Representations of indigenous women vendors are contrasted with the ways indigenous women see themselves. Some images are openly hostile, whereas others discriminate against these women through a form of paternalistic love. For example, the understanding of indigenous women as outsiders from different social spaces and deviants from middle-class gender norms suggests that they arè undeserving poor' whose interests should not be considered. On the other hand, the concept of indigenous`culture,' as defined and shaped by some non-Indian academics, has further marginalized Tijuana's indigenous migrants. While defending the right of indigenous migrants to use public spaces, academics have characterized manifestations of poverty as the traditions of this ethnic group.

Disruption, yet community reconstitution: subverting the privatization of Latin American plazas

“…As other scholars have noted in more depth (Cross 1998;Novo 2003;Cross and Morales 2007;Swanson 2007) street vending entails long hours and far from ideal working conditions. The majority of vendors in the Historic Centre live on the outskirts of the city or in the bordering state, Estado de Mexico, and commute for more than 3 hours a day to arrive at their stalls.…”

The Politics of Street Trading in Maseru, Lesotho

“…Alternatively, though often simultaneously, because of their inability to comply with rules, laws and regulations governing location, street traders are portrayed as political dissidents, whose property ownership, rights to the city and political representation can be destroyed with impunity by the state, all in the 'public interest'. The role of both national and local authorities in processes of eviction is, therefore, justified as a moral one, in which the appropriate behaviour in the city is restored in the public interest (Cresswell 1997;Connell 2003;Nova 2003;Popke and Ballard 2004).…”

‘Bad Mothers’ and ‘Delinquent Children’: Unravelling anti-begging rhetoric in the Ecuadorian Andes

“…Exceptions include Chaudhuri's (1987) research on women who beg near temples in India, Schak's (1988) research on a community of beggars in Taiwan, and Martínez Novo's (2003) research on indigenous women street vendors and beggars in Mexico. Within North America and Britain, much of the contemporary research on begging explores the issue through the lens of homelessness (Duncan, 1978;Fitzpatrick & Kennedy, 2001;Lankenau, 1999aLankenau, , 1999bSnow & Anderson, 1993;Wardhaugh, 1996).…”

“…Their exclusion in public space is thus framed as being in the best interests of their children. This further draws from a paternalistic understanding of Indians as innocent children who must be both represented and protected (Martínez Novo, 2003). It is often hedged in a belief that they have 'bad mothers'.…”