Horizontal Inequality in Chiapas – 25 years after the Zapatista Movement

Sammanfattning: The International Development Community places individuals at the center of concern for policy making. This study investigates why group analyses are crucial for the welfare of individual and social stability, and claims that the concept of Horizontal Inequality (group-based inequality) is important but widely neglected. The group of investigation is the indigenous population in Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state. Since their initial protests in 1994, they demand more rights and a more equal society. The research at hand shows that little has changed since then as the indigenous population still lags behind in terms of socio- economic indicators. Apart from providing patterns over time, this study finds that the indigenous population in Chiapas is worse off than in other Mexican states. This demonstrates that the prevalence of high economic and social inequality patterns still hinder Chiapas’ indigenous population from improving their poor living standards. Thus, this thesis concludes with policy implications and a call for strengthening efforts on behalf of the Mexican government.