Between a conventional university and an intercultural university: The case of the Intercultural University of the State of Puebla

Abstract

This article describes how the official intercultural universities in Mexico are influenced by an “neoliberal multiculturalism” vision of interculturality, which is contrasted with the more critical view of interculturality in Latin America arising from indigenous and afro-descendent communities. The article briefly presents the characteristics of intercultural higher education in Latin American and Mexico to contextualize the case of the Intercultural University in the State of Puebla, with particular attention to the experience of its graduates. The authors argue that the policies of the Mexican government for intercultural education are based in the implementation of neoliberal multiculturalism, which has implications for the functioning of the university. Without fundamental changes in the way interculturality is practiced, the university can become more of a political tool of the local state government than an academic institution.