Mexico has a rich programme of community carnivals that both perpetuate and offer opportunities to subvert existing power structures and social relations. Carnival organisers have a key role to play in either reinforcing or challenging existing social norms and creating spaces of inclusion or exclusion. This study aims to explore the role of organisers as curators of the symbolic and structural conditions of inclusion and exclusion at these contested events.
An ethnographic approach was adopted to investigate the ways in which carnivals in the eastern region of the State of Mexico become spaces of inclusion and exclusion. Observations were conducted at 19 carnivals. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 carnival organisers.
Carnival organisers play a key role in shaping the extent to which these festivals are welcoming and inclusive for different groups. Organisers are in positions of power in terms of decision-making, programming and deciding who can participate and in what ways, positioned between local traditions and restrictive social norms and the subversive and transformative potential of carnival.
The study illustrates the important role organisers can play in supporting diversity and ensuring carnivals and festivals are inclusive spaces.
