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Community Ethics as a Possibility to Develop Direct-Council Democracy, Plurality and Ecological Awareness in Rural and Indigenous Communities in Mexico

Received: 5 May 2022    Accepted: 9 June 2022    Published: 27 June 2022
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Abstract

This article analyzes how in some examples of rural indigenous communities in the south of Mexico a way of life based on community Ethics is carried out, a type of Ethics that with the practice of collective values such as mutual support, solidarity, respect, inclusion, community and cooperative work. From this collective vision of life derives practices such as direct council’s democracy, which is developed by distributing power and political responsibility among the different members of the community in this way it and the collective council are the highest authority. The councils are formed by members of the community with rotating positions. At the same time, the direct participation of the inhabitants of the community has a direct impact on decision making. This political participation allows not only the exercise of direct council democracy but also a mechanism of inclusion and the intention of respect for Plurality, since the different members of the community can participate in the council or have a responsibility in the committee, this without gender restrictions since the participation of women is very important in certain examples and in other cases the participation of a third gender is also included; thus exercising through community Ethics the respect for the other, as well as the recognition of the difference, identity and plurality. The construction of an ecological awareness through the care and defense of the environment is also developed from the practice of community ethics, because if we think in community we have to opt for the welfare of all, which implies taking care of natural resources in a responsible manner for collective subsistence, in addition to respect for plurality and beliefs that relate to nature as a cultural and religious issue that is part of the identity of the community. Thinking that allows the development of practices for the care of the environment.

Published in International Journal of Science, Technology and Society (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15
Page(s) 121-129
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Community Ethics, Direct-Democracy, Plurality, Ecology

References
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  • APA Style

    David Valerio Miranda. (2022). Community Ethics as a Possibility to Develop Direct-Council Democracy, Plurality and Ecological Awareness in Rural and Indigenous Communities in Mexico. International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 10(3), 121-129. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15

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    David Valerio Miranda. Community Ethics as a Possibility to Develop Direct-Council Democracy, Plurality and Ecological Awareness in Rural and Indigenous Communities in Mexico. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Soc. 2022, 10(3), 121-129. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15

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    AMA Style

    David Valerio Miranda. Community Ethics as a Possibility to Develop Direct-Council Democracy, Plurality and Ecological Awareness in Rural and Indigenous Communities in Mexico. Int J Sci Technol Soc. 2022;10(3):121-129. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15,
      author = {David Valerio Miranda},
      title = {Community Ethics as a Possibility to Develop Direct-Council Democracy, Plurality and Ecological Awareness in Rural and Indigenous Communities in Mexico},
      journal = {International Journal of Science, Technology and Society},
      volume = {10},
      number = {3},
      pages = {121-129},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20221003.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsts.20221003.15},
      abstract = {This article analyzes how in some examples of rural indigenous communities in the south of Mexico a way of life based on community Ethics is carried out, a type of Ethics that with the practice of collective values such as mutual support, solidarity, respect, inclusion, community and cooperative work. From this collective vision of life derives practices such as direct council’s democracy, which is developed by distributing power and political responsibility among the different members of the community in this way it and the collective council are the highest authority. The councils are formed by members of the community with rotating positions. At the same time, the direct participation of the inhabitants of the community has a direct impact on decision making. This political participation allows not only the exercise of direct council democracy but also a mechanism of inclusion and the intention of respect for Plurality, since the different members of the community can participate in the council or have a responsibility in the committee, this without gender restrictions since the participation of women is very important in certain examples and in other cases the participation of a third gender is also included; thus exercising through community Ethics the respect for the other, as well as the recognition of the difference, identity and plurality. The construction of an ecological awareness through the care and defense of the environment is also developed from the practice of community ethics, because if we think in community we have to opt for the welfare of all, which implies taking care of natural resources in a responsible manner for collective subsistence, in addition to respect for plurality and beliefs that relate to nature as a cultural and religious issue that is part of the identity of the community. Thinking that allows the development of practices for the care of the environment.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - This article analyzes how in some examples of rural indigenous communities in the south of Mexico a way of life based on community Ethics is carried out, a type of Ethics that with the practice of collective values such as mutual support, solidarity, respect, inclusion, community and cooperative work. From this collective vision of life derives practices such as direct council’s democracy, which is developed by distributing power and political responsibility among the different members of the community in this way it and the collective council are the highest authority. The councils are formed by members of the community with rotating positions. At the same time, the direct participation of the inhabitants of the community has a direct impact on decision making. This political participation allows not only the exercise of direct council democracy but also a mechanism of inclusion and the intention of respect for Plurality, since the different members of the community can participate in the council or have a responsibility in the committee, this without gender restrictions since the participation of women is very important in certain examples and in other cases the participation of a third gender is also included; thus exercising through community Ethics the respect for the other, as well as the recognition of the difference, identity and plurality. The construction of an ecological awareness through the care and defense of the environment is also developed from the practice of community ethics, because if we think in community we have to opt for the welfare of all, which implies taking care of natural resources in a responsible manner for collective subsistence, in addition to respect for plurality and beliefs that relate to nature as a cultural and religious issue that is part of the identity of the community. Thinking that allows the development of practices for the care of the environment.
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Author Information
  • Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas “Luis Villoro”, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México

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