Article Title

Indigenous Resistance: Counter-Hegemonic Movements of the Wixárika and Ogoni

Authors

Cassidy Thomas, Westminster College, Salt Lake CityFollow

Abstract

Since the downfall of formal colonialism after the conclusion of World War II, economic policies advocated for by the Global North have been spread around the globe via the development and globalization projects, as well as various structural adjustment programs and neoliberal free trade agreements. In many cases, Indigenous and peasant communities have been drastically affected by the persistence and spread of economic practices oriented towards the extraction of natural resources. This article will critically examine the experiences of the Wixárika of Mexico and the Ogoni of Nigeria— two indigenous cultures that have been terribly affected by neoliberal economic reform in their countries. As a result of this economic reform and subsequent resource extraction at the hands of corporations of the Global North, these cultures’ world-views and ways of life, which foster an intimate and irreplaceable connection with the Earth, are being threatened and endangered. Despite this crucial similarity that the Wixárika and Ogoni share, the current state of these peoples’ resistance movements differs. This provides us with the opportunity to examine the similarities and differences of these two peoples’ experiences, and through doing so we can gain a crucial insight into the current state of indigenous resistance movements around the world, as well as the greater importance and meaning of these movements.

Recommended Citation

Thomas, Cassidy (2017) "Indigenous Resistance: Counter-Hegemonic Movements of the Wixárika and Ogoni," Undergraduate Journal of Global Citizenship: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/jogc/vol2/iss2/5