Productive diversity and labor markets in a rural area of the State of Mexico

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the changes in the productive and territorial configuration of rural areas that are located beyond the urban periphery. These areas are part of the rural interstices that conform the metropolitan structure but completely differ from the peri-urban. This analysis is carried out from the perspective of the new rurality that alludes to the changes in the functionality of rural societies, as a consequence of the recent urban process. The methodological strategy focused on a deductive analysis of the information derived from the interviews. The workplace and productive activities carried out by the residents of San Miguel Atepoxco, made it possible to define the conformation of the productive structure and the labor links between the rural setting and its surrounding rural-urban environment. According to the analysis, we observe a diversified occupational structure, with a clear predominance of non-agricultural activities, mostly tertiary activities and preeminence of the rural labor market, since a large part of the jobs are distributed in rural localities (less than 5,000 thousand inhabitants) no more than 10 kilometers away.