Maria Elena Martinez-Torres is a faculty member in the Environment and Society Program of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology-Southeast Campus (CIESAS-Sureste) in Chiapas, Mexico. She is also a research associate at the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) in Berkeley, California. She directs Desarrollo Alternativo (DESAL), a Mexican nongovernmental organization devoted to research, analysis, and outreach concerning alternative development.