Rachel Barber is a PhD student in Social Sciences at ciesas Occidente. She works on the construction of labor identities of artisan weavers in the highlands of Chiapas. Her master's thesis, Un gusto adquirido: la artesanía mexicana y la adaptación sociocultural de los migrantes estadounidenses en Chapala, which deals with the relationship between the consumption of crafts and the sociocultural adaptation of American retirees in Chapala, Mexico, was published by the University of Guadalajara in 2021. She is interested in the topics of material culture, social change and anthropology of labor, and the incorporation of documentary and audiovisual methods in ethnographic study.

Discrepancias

Debates on Cultural Heritage and the Commercialization of Collective Expressions

  • Aura Cumes
  • Jesús Antonio Machuca Ramírez
  • Suely Kofes
  • Xóchitl Eréndira Zolueta Juan

  • moderator Rachel Barber

In the last decade, a wave of accusations has been launched against brands and companies for using cultural elements of indigenous groups. In Mexico, several cases have had considerable resonance: the complaint by the Mixe community of Tlahuitoltepec against the French company Isabel Marant for copying its Xaam nïxuy blouse; the protest by the Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto, against the fashion house of Carolina Herrera for the use of embroidery from Tenango de Doria and the sarape from Saltillo; and on three different occasions the fashion clothing company Zara has been accused of plagiarism for using designs from Aguacatenango, Chiapas.