Social Inequalities and Indigenous Populations in Mexico: A Plural Approach

Abstract

The 2000 census of the Mexican population clearly marks a turning point in the history of statistical identification of the country’s indigenous population. After categorization by race or customs related to dress, food, etc. was abolished in 1895, the census of indigenous Mexicans was exclusively based on a linguistic criterion throughout the entire twentieth century. In 2000, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography introduced a second criterion with a question for self-reporting ethnicity asked to every individual age five and older. This innovation creates a significant gap between the estimated sizes of the indigenous population based on the two criteria just when, after the neo-Zapatista uprising, the political and social issues related to the Indian question and measuring discrimination have increased, as in most Latin American countries (Barbary and Urrea 2004; Barbary (ed.) 2006; Gros 1998; Wade 1997). This paper will argue in favour of an approach comparing several possible statistical definitions that combine individual and collective ‘indigenous identity’ using census information. The true significance of this categorization is disclosed by a multivariate analysis of demographic and socio-economic profiles of the various segments of the country’s population and particularly in highlighting the high heterogeneity of the indigenous universe.