Rural Gentrification as a Factor of Persistence of both the original population and agricultural activities: Evidence from Morelos, Mexico

Abstract

This paper is based on research carried out in three municipalities of the state of Morelos, Mexico, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers and rural inhabitants. We address the hypothesis that processes of rural gentrification can incite the persistence of the native population and of agricultural activities through the creation of supplementary sources of work. This hypothesis challenges a part of the literature on gentrification that maintains a rigid notion of gentrification, essentially applicable to situations of urban renovation, and that involves the displacement of the native population with a newly arrived high-income population. In contrast, this paper joins the arguments of another group of researchers that defend a more flexible notion of gentrification, applicable to other geographical areas (peri-urban and rural spaces) and to contexts involving new real-estate developments, where the displacement phenomenon is far from being widespread. Our fieldwork made clear that far from contributing to the displacement of the native population, the influx of high-income groups, be they tourists, temporal or permanent residents, has promoted the creation of local employment opportunities that benefit the local population.