La antropología aplicada al servicio del estado‐nación: aculturación e indigenismo en la frontera sur de México

Abstract

This article is a critical analysis of the role of applied anthropology used in the elaboration of state policies towards indigenous peoples on the Southern Mexican border. Based on extensive field and archival research in a Maya region of the state of Chiapas, the author analyzes the role of anthropologists in the formulation of official indigenismo and its impact on the cultural, social and economic life of the indigenous peoples of this area. The case study about the Mam people that is analyzed in this article is an example of the negative impact that applied anthropology can have when it is used in service of the nation‐state.