Abstract

SARTORELLO, Stefano Claudio. Intercultural Conflict and Interaction: Indigenous and Mestizo University Students at Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas. RMIE [online]. 2016, vol.21, n.70, pp.719-757. ISSN 1405-6666.

This paper analyzes the historical and sociocultural characteristics of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, the city where Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas is located. Racism and intercultural conflict are identified as structural elements of the conflictive relationships among the diverse ethnic groups that make up the city's population and are reproduced in the university. Based on the reflections of the young students who participated in a collaborative research project, the paper presents various intercultural conflicts that occur between indigenous and mestizo university students; intercultural interaction is limited by the presence of striking social, economic, and academic asymmetries. An analysis of the operation of the university's intercultural educational model sustains that native language classes and subjects from the area of community association are curricular spaces that have the potential to transform the conflict and encourage more harmonious intercultural relations within the student community.

Keywords : intercultural university; youth cultures; racism; intercultural conflict; intercultural interaction.

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