Community social resistance projects: an alternative for reflection and resilience in diverse and vulnerable contexts

Abstract

The study addresses the deficiency in the training of community social projects at the Universidad Autónoma Indígena de México (UAIM), Mochicahui Unit. Traditionally, the university has focused on resilience from a Western and individualistic perspective, ignoring collective resistance practices and the Yoreme worldview, which contributes to the invisibility of knowledge and the erosion of cultural identity. This approach limits students' ability to effectively address structural violence. The general objective of the research was to analyze how community social projects, from the perspective of students in the Bachelor's Degree in Community Social Psychology at UAIM, can be a methodological alternative to foster collective resilience and reflection in the face of violence. The study's methodology was phenomenological-hermeneutical. It worked with four students who participated in community resistance social projects in Yoreme communities, using semi-structured interviews and autobiographies; the analysis was thematic content. To ensure credibility and ethics, the confidentiality of the participants was maintained. The results showed that the students, being people of low socioeconomic status and Indigenous, felt vulnerable and developed resilience to face adversities. It was concluded that community social projects should be designed in collaboration with community members, focusing on real problems and developing life skills, articulating community needs with the objectives of the UAIM.