Interdisciplinary approaches to understand community life in Palmarejo in the face of forced displacement

Abstract

The Palmarejo community is located in Jalisco, Mexico. Since 2006 it was at risk of flooding due to the construction of the El Zapotillo dam, as well as Acasico and Temacapulín. The resistance movement in Temacapulín contributed to stopping the construction of the dam and thus preventing the flooding of the three communities, however, the inhabitants of Palmarejo were displaced. This project aims to address the psychosocial effects in the three communities and is part of the guideline for attention to the social fabric as part of the Justice Plan promoted by the federal government in 2021. The objective of this article is to understand community life 
in Palmarejo in the face of forced displacement due to the construction of the El Zapotillo dam. An interdisciplinary approach was made where cultural sociology and social psychology are present. From the first, analytical proposals are taken up to understand socio-economic and political features related to the construction of the El Zapotillo dam; as well as socio-cultural and community aspects present in Palmarejo; while, from the second, the notion of psychosocial affectations as a result of forced displacement was recovered. Six semi-structured interviews were applied and two individual itinerant map tours were made to people who lived in 
Palmarejo. The results show that community life was characterized by fragmentation in interpersonal relationships among the population due, in part, to the wear and tear caused by fear, anger, uncertainty, frustration, and impotence in the face of the possibility of losing their heritage.