Activist resistance against mega-projects in Yucatan : a Buen Vivir and Degrowth approach

Abstract: This thesis looks at the activist resistance in Yucatán from the perspective of theories of Buen Vivir and Degrowth. Based on a critique of mega-projects, economic growth and development, as well as a theoretical explanation of resistance in the Global South and its links to Buen Vivir and Degrowth, this research explores how mega-projects in Yucatán have existed since the age of henequen, during the middle of the 19th century. Mega-projects, it is argued, have continued to this day, with infrastructure development like renewable energy parks, industrial farms, GMO soy plantations and, more recently, the planning of the Maya Train, with effects that represent a threat to the quality of life of local inhabitants, more than improvements to it. The thesis offers insights of activists against these projects and the model of development they are based on, as well as alternatives to them, that activists have constructed and practiced over time, as signs of the beginning of a process of conflict with the growth-based model of development and their search for Buen Vivir.