Space, Control, and Resistance: Tlatelolco and the Postcolonial Right to the City

The 1968 Tlatelolco massacre on October 2nd at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas strains Mexico’s memory, marked by violent state suppression and bloodshed against student resistance from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and National Polytechnic University (IPN). Through a postcolonial lens, this research analyzes the Tlatelolco massacre grounded in the concept of right to the city within the broader historical context highlighting the relationship between modernity, the carceral state, and spatial production. The Tlatelolco massacre represents a long history of colonization and the continuation of colonial logic by global powers, resulting in a cycle of death and violence on those most marginalized and resistant.