The Chiapas Rebellion: The Struggle for Land and DemocracyIn 1994 the Zapatista rebellion brought international attention to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Neil Harvey combines ten years of field work in Chiapas with extensive historical and political research to provide a comprehensive history of conflict in this region and a nuanced analysis of this rural uprising against federal bureaucracy and landed elites. Beginning with an exploration of the history of ethnic and class conflict in Chiapas since the Conquest, Harvey moves specifically to trace the development of peasant and indigenous organizations in Chiapas since the early 1970s. He compares the struggles for agrarian rights of three grassroots movements facing hostility from both local elites and federal bureaucrats. His examination of the complexities of political change in Chiapas includes the impact of neoliberal economic policies, the origins of the Zapatista army of National Liberation (EZLN), and the political impact of the rebellion itself. Engaging with current theoretical debates on the role and significance of social movements in Mexico and Latin America, Harvey focuses on the primacy of political struggle and on the importance of these movements in the construction and meaning of citizenship. While suggesting that the Zapatista revolution has heightened awareness among the people of Chiapas of such democratic issues as ethnicity, gender, and land distribution, he concludes with an analysis of the obstacles to peace in the region today. This unprecedented study of the Zapatista rebellion will provoke discussion among students and scholars of contemporary Mexico, political science, Latin American studies, history, sociology, and anthropology. |
Contents
Introduction I | 1 |
Colonialism State Formation and Resistance | 36 |
Leaders and Base in the Lacandon Forest | 68 |
Mobilization and Repression in Simojovel and Venustiano | 91 |
National Movements Local Factionalism | 118 |
From Plan Chiapas to the New Zapatismo | 147 |
Neoliberalism and Rebellion | 169 |
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Common terms and phrases
activists AEDPCH agrarian agricultural Albores alliances areas ARIC autonomy began caciques Campesina Cañadas Casa del Pueblo catechists caudillo CEOIC Chiapas Chol CIOAC citizenship CNPA coffee Comitán communal lands comuneros comunidad Coordinadora coras cultural demands democracy democratic diocese economic ejidatarios ejidos elections elites Emiliano Zapata eviction EZLN faction federal Gómez governor hectares Hernández independent Independiente Indians Indígena indigenous communities INMECAFE La Jornada Lacandon forest ladino land reform landowners Latin America leaders leadership liberal López maize Marcos Margaritas Martínez ment Mexican Mexico City military mobilization municipal negotiations neoliberal nities OCEZ OCEZ-CNPA Ocosingo October Orive participation peasant movements peasant organizations percent plantations police popular movements producers ranchers rebellion regional representatives Ruiz rural Salinas San Cristóbal sector Simojovel social movements strategy struggle for land subcomandante Marcos tion Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tzeltal Tzotzil UE Quiptic Unión de Uniones UNORCA Venustiano Carranza workers Zapatistas Zona