Developing Zapatista autonomy
Subtitle: conflict and NGO involvement in rebel Chiapas
By: Niels Barmeyer.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Albuquerque
Language: eng
Number of pages: 281
ISBN-13: 9780826345844
Subjects: Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Mexico); Mayas -- Mexico -- Chiapas -- Government relations; Non-governmental organizations -- Mexico -- Chiapas; Conflict management -- Mexico -- Chiapas; Chiapas (Mexico) -- History -- Peasant Uprising, 1994-; Mexico -- Politics and government -- 1988-2000
Description: "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."--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Roots of Zapatista autonomy; title: Pueblos de Base; title: Who is running the show? : the workings of Zapatista government; title: Resistance, conflict, and community division; title: Global networks, local impacts : the transformation of NGO involvement in Chiapas; title: The second phase of the Zapatista revolution; title: Projects and their impacts : observations by a volunteer water worker; title: Mobility and cultural change in the face of outside involvement; title: Accommodating home base and civil society : the EZLN's many facets.