Authoritarian neoliberalism and accumulation by legitimization in Mexico. The energy reform (2013)

Abstract

Using critical theory and qualitative documentary methodology, through the concepts of authoritarian neoliberalism and accumulation by legitimization, this essay analyzes the energy reform materialized in the government of Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico through the Pact for Mexico, signed between the main political parties and the federal government. The evidence reflects an imposition of such reform without consulting the population with the purpose of privatizing the country’s energy resources, which was paved by a media legitimization where the government channeled large economic resources to the country’s main media. It is concluded that the energy reform takes place in an authoritarian neoliberal context, of imposition for the reinforcement of the prevailing economic model, where the State renounces the possibility of negotiating with the different sectors of the population and seeks legitimization through the molding of public opinion.