Work, industry, and environmental justice

El oxímoron del desarrollo sostenible: El Salto, Jalisco como contradicción entre trabajo y naturaleza

[The Oxymoron of Sustainable Development: El Salto, Jalisco, as an Expression of the Contradiction between Labor and Nature]

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

Examines how the Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and decent work apply in El Salto. Between 2010 and 2024 formal employment grew about 2.6-fold, but informality and industrial emissions grew too. The article argues that these goals cannot account for what is happening in the municipality.

El Acuerdo de Escazú en México, a un año de su implementación

[The Escazú Agreement in Mexico, One Year after Its Implementation]

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

Reviews how Mexico has applied the Escazú Agreement, the regional treaty on access to information, public participation, and justice in environmental matters, which also protects environmental defenders. One year after it entered into force, killings of defenders in Mexico had not declined.

Extractivismo minero y privación por forclusión en Caborca, Sonora

[Mining Extractivism and Deprivation by Forclusion in Caborca, Sonora]

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos, Aleida Azamar Alonso

Mining is often presented as a path to development. In Caborca, Sonora, mining projects promoted by companies and government left residents with less water and land, a degraded environment, and more poverty than before. The article analyzes this process as deprivation by forclusion.

América Latina y el Caribe en el Sur Global

[Latin America and the Caribbean in the Global South]

Juan Manuel Jiménez Ramírez, Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

Traces how the idea of the Global South moved from a geographic label to a political and epistemic concept tied to decolonial critique. It presents Latin American alternatives to Eurocentric modernity, such as buen vivir, the rights of nature, and community experiences like Cherán.

Minería ilegal y violencia en el ejido El Bajío, Sonora. Un caso de extrahección en México

[Illegal Mining and Violence in the El Bajío Ejido, Sonora: A Case of Extrahection in Mexico]

Aleida Azamar Alonso, Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

Reconstructs how a mining company kept operating on the El Bajío ejido in Caborca despite court rulings in favor of the ejido members, while intimidation and killings in the community went unanswered. It explains this through the concept of extrahection: extraction imposed through violence.

Los conflictos socioambientales, otra consecuencia de la ruptura Naturaleza-sociedad

[Socio-environmental Conflicts, Another Consequence of the Nature–Society Rupture]

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

Explains how treating nature as a resource to exploit has fueled extractivism in Latin America, from colonial mining to neo-extractivist governments. It focuses on two Mexican mines, San Xavier in Cerro de San Pedro and Peñasquito in Mazapil, where communities bore the costs.

Working Where You Live: Industry, Environment, and Everyday Life in El Salto, Jalisco, Mexico

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

A talk on how industrial work, environmental conditions, and well-being intersect in El Salto, one of Mexico's most industrialized municipalities. Presented in two sessions: in Spanish on Zoom (September 21) and in English on the UCLA campus and online (September 25).

El Acuerdo de Escazú en México, a un año de su implementación

[The Escazú Agreement in Mexico, One Year after Its Implementation]

Mario Daniel Muñoz Ríos

A dialogue session based on the article of the same name: how Mexico has applied the regional treaty on access rights in environmental matters, and why killings of environmental defenders had not declined one year after it entered into force.