Horizon and utopia

cultural domination and unequal access to education in Mexico

Abstract

This article examines the structural and symbolic barriers limiting Indigenous youths’ access to higher education in Mexico. Using a critical sociological and anthropological approach, it draws on Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Pablo González Casanova’s concept of internal colonialism; Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron’s theories of school reproduction and symbolic violence; and the works of Hannah Arendt, Paulo Freire, and Boaventura de Sousa Santos to clarify the political, pedagogical, and epistemic dimensions of exclusion. The study shows how Mexico’s school system, shaped by a homogenizing national project, transforms historical inequalities into legitimate academic differences and maintains a logic of cultural assimilation. Despite initiatives such as intercultural universities, public policies remain insufficient. The main analytical finding underscores that inclusion requires a refoundation of the educational system, grounded in the principles of ethnodevelopment and intercultural dialogue, in order to fully recognize the knowledge and collective rights of Indigenous peoples.