Is Ecatepec Just Violence?

Notes on the Redefinition of Life in the Periphery

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the fight against the prevailing violence in several urban fringes entails the redefinition of both their spaces and their productive activities; mainly those related to artistic creation. For this purpose, the Municipality of Ecatepec and the peculiarities of the areas concerned in this part of the State of Mexico will be set as an example to explain the correlation between the construction of a collective imagery and the constitution of marginalized identities which reproduce and embody patterns of violence and exclusion. Thus, the argument is for the need to view and reassess the many activities that allow us to understand Ecatepec as a space worth living in. Consequently, this area is not limited to the violent and chaotic image disseminated by public opinion. This is not a utopian position that ignores the multifactorial and factual dimensions, but conscious of these factors, it will be noted that the recovery of a peripheral space like this one requires —as a necessary though not sufficient element— its reappraisal and redefinition. In this regard, the present text highlights the need to establish a network of counter-devices that assists the reclaiming efforts of any act of redefinition.