Indigenismo in the INI’s Coordinator Center in Highland Chiapas: An incentive for historiographical debate

Abstract

Through a clear and finely woven narrative, with well-defined dramatis personae and ethnographic stage, Stephen Lewis offers a historical treatment of the INI’s Indigenista Coordinator Center in los Altos de Chiapas. This case study analyzes the implementation of the indigenista project in the southern Mexican state, considering its achievements and vicissitudes, and evaluating its administration. Throughout the book, situated in the second half of the twentieth century, and supported by numerous archival sources, the author discusses different aspects of the work undertaken by the indigenistas, such as the Petul theater and the empowerment of indigenous leaders, an effort which represents an incentive to strengthen the historiographical debate about his period.