La Colonia
Mexico was in the throes of structural adjustment policies during rapid economic development in the year 2000. These images are from January-March and depict events including the resolution of a strike at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). This is a record of a country in-flux but also steeped in traditional cultures.
Mexican culture was demonstrative of the challenges from adjusting to globalization while preserving indigenous, and ironically, colonial culture, as well. Indigenous groups adopt the Catholicism of missionaries, and colonists prior, while preserving their heritage through contemporary organizational structures.
The UNAM students were resisting an increase in tuition at the University related to World Bank and International Monetary Fund austerity measures and the coffee farmers were fighting low and unpredictable coffee prices due to international markets.
The legacy of the Zapatista uprising was still influential in the national dialogue and the long-ruling PRI party would be voted out of power later that year.