Ethnomusicological Research in Mexico: Legitimate Times of Transformation or Perennial institutional Austerity?

Abstract

In 2018, with the arrival to government of one of the political parties that presumed left-wing political ideology, Mexico envisioned a time of profound changes that would affect society and the very configuration of the Mexican State. The neoliberal policies of the last three decades had intensified serious national problems such as corruption, poverty, insecurity and gender violence. In this context, the new government's plan to transform the country postulated the cultural sector as an important axis of recovery of the social fabric. However, the budget cuts imposed by the current government on this sector prevent it from being able to turn it into the desired “transforming axis” that was proposed. This paper offers an overview of the current conditions of ethnomusicological research in the institutional cultural sphere in relation to the cultural policies of the State and the place that this discipline occupies in the academic field. The approach focuses on the challenges ethnomusicological research faces in the current political situation of public institutions, and on the important role that music research carried out by research centers and state universities has acquired in the last twenty years.