Water pollution and indigenous identity : a perspective from a cooperative water association called La Sociedad de Aguas La Guadalupana

The water and land located in Tehuacán, Puebla, México, and its surrounding villages including San Francisco, Altepexi has provided individuals with food, jobs, and agricultural products. Currently, the descendants of these indigenous communities find their cultural, social and economical practices related to the daily use of water under threat of disappearance. A primary focus in this thesis is the pollution of water by the maquiladora industry, and pork and chicken processing. Community cooperative associations such as La Guadalupana work by administering the use of water in the villages. Scarcity and water pollution undermine one of their main sources of income to support their families. Furthermore, the health of members of the community, the peasant work activities related to water management, and the prevention of the population on their right to access to clean water are some of the social aspects that are targeted here. As a result, this thesis will explain the extent to which the autonomous Sociedad de Aguas La Guadalupana is playing a role in addressing the problem of water pollution, through a campesino way of organizing.