Developing Zapatista Autonomy: Conflict and NGO Involvement in Rebel Chiapas

by Niels Barmeyer

Overview

Since the 1994 Zapatista uprising in the southernmost Mexican state of Chiapas, the indigenous population has seen a lot of changes. These have been particularly salient with regard to nongovernmental (NGO) development projects that have provided marginalized communities with social and economic infrastructure that operate independently from the Mexican state. NGOs and solidarity groups continue to play an increasingly important role in helping these communities strengthen their autonomy in the regions controlled by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).

Niels Barmeyer devoted time in Chiapas in the mid-1990s as a human rights activist and later as an NGO volunteer and PhD researcher. Based on these experiences, he provides an in-depth analysis of the advances and limitations of the Zapatista autonomy project over the past fourteen years. Barmeyer's study includes personal histories of indigenous people and international activists from four rebel communities who are involved in NGO development projects. Their stories of clandestine organization, land occupation, raising money and support, and internal disagreements offer a range of perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826345844
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	04/15/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Niels Barmeyer first went to Chiapas to work as a human rights observer in indigenous villages affiliated with the EZLN guerilla movement in 1996 and has since returned to Zapatista territory many times. He currently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he works with an indigenous grassroots-organization.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xxi

Abbreviations xxiii

Introduction: Making Sense of the Zapatistas 1

Chapter One Roots of Zapatista Autonomy 23

Chapter Two Pueblos de Base 65

Chapter Three Who Is Running the Show?: The Workings of Zapatista Government 85

Chapter Four Resistance, Conflict, and Community Division 109

Chapter Five Global Networks, Local Impacts: The Transformation of NGO Involvement in Chiapas 136

Chapter Six The Second Phase of the Zapatista Revolution 156

Chapter Seven Projects and Their Impacts: Observations by a Volunteer Water Worker 175

Chapter Eight Mobility and Cultural Change in the Face of Outside Involvement 194

Chapter Nine Accommodating Home Base and Civil Society: The EZLN's Many Facets 214

Notes 237

Glossary of Spanish Terms 251

References 255

Index 271