Title: Elogio de la diversidad. Los nuevos monumentos del mundo rural
Abstract: The video and its accompanying text are based on a particular source -monuments and statues in public spaces– to account for three large and profound transformations in Mexico’s countryside. On the one hand, there is the change in the axis of economic activities, a process that has given rise to specializations that have helped neighbors remain in their communities or at least mitigated the exodus that has brought about depopulation in so many places. On the other hand –although it is very much tied to this change– there has been an emergence of local actors with interests, resources, and projects who have learned how to appropriate the new language of development. Finally, the monuments bring awareness of the current methods of intervention in the public space through emerging collectives in traditional agrarian societies.