Political culture and social power in the semi-arid: the absence of conflict in the mining cluster of San Rafael, Charcas, San Luis Potosí

Abstract

In the last thirty years, we have observed two scenarios in San Luis Potosí that are characterized by the type of response of the local population and society to the extractive activities of the mining industry. One is the scenario of no to mining, of social conflict and the mobilization against this activity; the other is the scenario of consent, of a supposed consensus and receptivity on the part of the population, that is, the apparent absence of the conflict. The perceptions and attitudes in favor of mining have support and are explained from the local and regional political culture, under which the relations of power and the imaginaries around the mining vocation or tradition of a given territory are articulated. In this study we focus on structural power and organizational tactical power as the strategies implemented by a Canadian-owned mining company in the San Rafael ejido, Charcas municipality, San Luis Potosí, to ensure territorial control. We believe that the studies focused on the first scenario have been more prolific, and for this reason we subscribe to the discussion by recognizing this other scenario that is little problematized in the specialized literature.