Types of Activism

The Activism in Regions of Crime-Related Violence project employs a fairly broad definition of activism, which we define as:

practices aimed at changing “the rules of the game” to achieve a more just society.

In the difficult context of Michoacán, activists are themselves often subject to intimidation and hindered by institutional fragility. Despite this, some initiatives demonstrate the potential to achieve changes for the better, if modest.

The five types of activism this project investigates in four regions of Michoacán are:

Armed civilians (including autodefensas)

Collectives focused on desaparecidos (relatives of forcibly disappeared people) and gender-based or sexuality-based violence

Church organizations

Local Citizen Security Councils

Cultural and artistic activist groups