Two Examples of Indigenous Protest

MalaysiaResponse to Green Revolution changesLocalizedEveryday Acts of Resistance

ChiapasResponse to long-standing land crisisNAFTALocal-National-GlobalViolent and Non-violent protest

Zapatista Rebellion

Understanding the Moment

January 1, 1994: Mexico’s entrance into NAFTA“NAFTA was the death certificate of the indigenous peoples of Mexico” —Sub-Commandant Marcos

Why Zapata?

Emiliano ZapataRevolution of 1910—move to reestablish communal land holdingEarlier loss of peasant land

Juaraz gives individual title to land—soon lost to peasantsDiaz (1876-1910) sells huge tracts to investors to attract capital

Chiapas

Southernmost state in MexicoPoorest State

Highest malnutrition, illiteracy rates20% population has no income40% has an income less than minimum wageSmall number of wealthy families dominate economy and politics

History of Repression in Chiapas

During revolutionary era, local private armies maintained control through terror1916-Federal Army repelled by Chiapas militias, land reform stifled1993-land held by 6000; 2 million peasantsRigid control by ruling PRI—Mayan community repeats hierarchiesDissent suppressed by vigilantes

The Crisis Intensifies

Mayan farmers resettled in deforested areasNo title to land—harassed by vigilantesProtestants harasses by Catholic establishmentModernization projects (dams, oil drilling) yield uneven benefits

Causes of Poverty

Communally held land can be sold (Constututional Change)NAFTA approvedDecline of agricultural subsidies for poor farmers

Need for peasant agriculture rethought as part of restructuring debt (1982)Fertilizer subsidy removedCoffee price supports removed

Zapatista Tactics

Struggle over legitimacy—Zapatistas subvert gov’t authority by using rhetoric of the revolutionTraditional appealsUse of technology (internet, media)

Responses to the Zapatistas

Government Restraint—military response prevented by media coverageGlobal financial community—Zapatatistas are a hazard to confidence in Mexican markets and must be removedCan government financial aid reach the needy?Danger of vigilantes—1997 massacre of 45 Zapatista sympathizers

Zapatista Information

www.ezln.orgwww.fzln.org.mx

Two Examples of Indigenous Protest

MalaysiaResponse to Green RevolutionLocalized actionEveryday acts of resistance

ChiapasResponse to:

• Long-standing land crisis

• NAFTA• Vigilante

Local-National-Global consequencesViolent and Non-Violent

Peasant Movements Then and Now

Often resemble each other in tacticsIn contemporary movements, the conditions that led to the protests were consequences of the globalization of the capitalist economy

MalaysiaChiapas

Capitalism and Crisis

Capitalism requires a society of perpetual growthEnormous flexibility and adaptabilityFar reaching consequences for patterns of social and political relationsLong-term consequences?

Antisystemic Protest

The Revolution of 1848

Began in France on Feb 24New Republic based on universal sufferageSpread to Bavaria, Berlin, southwest Germany most of Italy, even Columbia

Understanding 1848

Immediately successful—most governments overthrownWithin 18 months, revolution defeated and old regimes restored (except France)Worker movements-protest oppression of labor under industrial revolutionNational liberation-peripheral nations against imperialist and colonial powersModel—French Revolution of 1789

Worker Movements-How to Improve the Lives of Workers

Fight for the right to vote and form workers’ partiesContinue to work towards violent revolutionOrganize unions and gain the right to strike

Nation-States of Europe and America outlawed unions and criminalized strikes

Problem: The Aristocracy of Labor

Two levels of labor emerge in the aftermath of 1848

Nationalist Antisystemic Movements

Peripheral movements led by middle class and intelligentsia reaching out to other anticapitalist factionsBy the beginning of postwar era, major objectives had been metIncorporation of new zones

Political restructuringCreation of new modern states

1968Antiwar protests in United StatesDNC riots in ChicagoKent StateStudents and Workers in ParisStudent activism in JapanViolence and Olympics in Mexico

1968United States war against Vietnamese nationalismSoviet suppression of CzechoslovakiaConsequences?

Where are we now?

Have the objectives of 1968 been realized?From campus boycotts to Seattle protestsNew Social Movements, World Social Forum (Porto Alegre)