Interviews from Mexico, hosted by Laura Carlsen, goes straight to the source -- the men and women making news and making history in Mexico and throughout the region. Today’s conversation revolves around the cultural attributes that contribute to the ever increasing violence afflicting Mexico and the role of culture in confronting this violence? To get at the answers she speaks with culture expert Sara Sefchovich, a researcher and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), as well as a novelist. They begin by talking about her latest book, entitled “Be Daring: A Heretical Proposal Against Violence in Mexico.” Sefchovich keys in on the central role of the mother in the family, and says that mothers do often contribute to the spread of violence because children involved in criminal activity usually share their earnings with them and receive encouragement in return. She argues, however, that mothers can refuse to be accomplices to violence and instead, build solidarity networks, exert social pressure, and make demands from the grassroots, as they have previously done in Mexico and other countries. The conversation also touches on Sefchovich’s writings dealing with the role of women in history, the question of whether or not women are better than men, and the ways in which culture can bring about social change. teleSUR
