Pescadoras de maxquil. Rasgos de empoderamiento ambiental en San Felipe, Yucatán

Abstract

The collective meaning of marine resources and organization in the cooperative Working Women of the Sea (MTM) were studied in the municipality of San Felipe, Yucatan. It is the individual and collective representations that show the thought of a group in the construction of their reality and can allow self-awareness as well as participation in their empowerment processes. During the training of fisherwomen for individual and organizational strengthening, methodologies of open interview (EA) and natural semantic networks (RSN) were used. The conceptions that fisherwomen have about fishing and organization as a known object of their environment, reflect the range of meanings expressed through their everyday language. The words stimulus: maxquil (spider crab) and cooperative were defined with them. The results show differences for the first word associated with obtaining money and fears for its achievement while the second word showed differences between work and collective obligation. The narratives analyzed in a cautious way suggest that the empowerment of fisherwomen can influence the sense of security for the management of fishery resources and the vision of future for the empowerment of the organization.