Human Rights and Socio-Environmental Conflicts of Mining in Mexico: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Socio-environmental conflicts are situations that exemplify human rights transgressions caused by extractive activities. These are present in developing countries where extractivism, imperialism, and colonialism paradigms prevail. In the context of Mexico, criminalization, violence, and the absence of rule of law promote these conflicts, frequently aggravated by involvement with private interests. In the last 20 years, the relationship between human rights in the mining sector and its impact on the environment has been a critical research subject. This paper aims to carry out a systematic review to analyze human rights transgressions related to the mining industry’s impact in Mexico, and identify factors causing socio-environmental conflicts. The current study shows a systematic analysis based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology. This method contributed to the collection of references that describe conflicts due to human rights transgressions and environmental damage in mining areas in Mexico. Human rights transgressions caused by mining in a Mexican context demonstrate the inability of the state to stop the increase in socio-environmental conflicts and its lack of concern towards preventing damage to the environment.