Political Subjectivities and Professionalization Experiences in Intercultural and Community Higher Education in Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

This article presents the findings of an extended research project conducted within the framework of Community and Intercultural Higher Education initiatives, which are organized and led by Indigenous communities in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The study centers on the analysis of the biographical and educational trajectories of students who choose to pursue higher education grounded in the principles of comunalidad, across three educational institutions: ISIA, Unixhidza, and MEC. A key finding of this study is articulated through the concept of political subjectivities, which allows us to understand the student as a subject embedded in broader processes—familial, communal, and territorial—that shape and accompany their educational experience. This perspective emphasizes the interrelation between individual formation and collective commitment. The methodology combined ethnographic observation, context-sensitive interviews, and the co-construction of biographical narratives, carried out over the period from 2017 to 2022. In conclusion, the study argues that intercultural and communal higher education in Oaxaca emerges as: (a) a response to the appropriation and reproduction of Indigenous knowledge systems that have been historically marginalized within formal education, particularly at the tertiary level; (b) a pathway for professionalization within communities, aimed at creating viable life opportunities without the necessity of migration; and (c) a mechanism for strengthening community-based institutions.