Mexican sociopolitical movements and transnational networking in the context of economic integration in the Americas

This dissertation analyzes the significance of Mexican sociopolitical movements (SPMs) resisting neoliberal policies and economic integration in the Americas, around NAFTA and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Through a case study analysis of the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC) and its participation in a transnational advocacy network, the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), it examines the possibilities, limits, and impact of coalition building across sectors and borders to foster social justice and democratic governance. The research raises scepticism about the consolidation of a global, or ‘hemispheric’ civil society, as a growing number of scholars and activists tend to argue.

After completing extensive field research, I developed a theoretical synthesis which combines a neo-Gramscian, international political economy (IPE) perspective with insights from cultural studies authors studying social movements. I argue that this theoretical framework is best suited to evaluate the experiences, strategies, and political analyses of SPMs in specific contexts of struggle. At the crossroads between international and comparative studies, the research highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the literature in IPE to study contemporary movements and their potential for shaping today's world order and governance structures. It stresses the need to look at specific experiences of social organizing, rooted in particular places and in constant interaction with states, but which cut across scales, cultures, sectors, and borders. Although there is no global civil society consolidating around a common alternative to neoliberalism, the research shows that SPM coalitions are important sources of political innovation, knowledge production, and social change that shape today's patterns of governance.