Elitization of space and materialization of struggle in Toluca. From the staging of landscapes of disappearance to the deployment of memory devices

Abstract

In this article we develop several angles from which to think about the spatial dimensions and materiality of social struggle in Toluca, State of Mexico, and its regional context. A principal focus is our methodological argument for understanding space and time as vitally important tools to account for the diversity of struggles in this place in a concrete way, and as derived from social antago- Elitización dEl Espacio y matErialización dE la lucha En toluca…351 nism. Our approach neither attributes to these struggles an essential quality, or hidden truth to recover, nor neglects the context of capitalist, colonial and patriarchal domination in which they are located. This article also advances a theoretical argument that allows us to account for social antagonism from a focus on space, consistent with which, we argue, the concept of “landscapes of disappearance” allows us to address spatial problems derived from the deployment of capital throughout the Mexican territory. Finally, we set ourselves the objective of accounting for the deployment of social antagonism in the city of Toluca. We pay specific attention to the materialization of spatial arrangements as part of accounting for a dialectic between the production of landscapes of disappearance and the staging of social struggle by way of what we identify as scenic devices of memory and rebellion.