Zapatistas The Chiapas Revolt and What It Means for Radical Politics

by Mentinis, Mihalis

• ISBN13: 9780745324876
• ISBN10: 0745324878
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-20
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

The Zapatista Army for National Liberation burst onto the world stage on 1 January 1994. Zapatista commander Subcomandante Marcos announced a revolution, and declared war on the Mexican government and global capitalism. Since then, the Zapatistas have inspired thousands of activists across the world. They have attracted much attention from political theorists and analysts. Despite this, there is little consensus about the real nature and efficacy of the movement. Zapatistas provides a bold new approach to understanding the insurrection. Mentinis spent nine months visiting the Zapatista autonomous zone, and the result is this unique exploration of the indigenous political theory emerging within the movement. Combining this with an analysis of the integrity of the Zaptista project, Mentinis draws on the concept of the 'event' from Badiou, ideas from Situationism, the 'project of autonomy' of Cornelius Castoriadis and the 'constituent power' of Antonio Negri, to present a rigourous account of the movement and the impact it has had on radical political theory.

Author Biography

Mihalis Mentinis is a researcher in the discourse unit at Manchester Metropolitan University. His main interest and previous publications concern radical politics and revolutionary subjectivities. Zapatistas is his first book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
Abbreviations	ix
Preface	xi
1 Zapatista Chronicle	1	(30)
The Early Years: The Pre-history of the EZLN	2	(6)
Zapatista Chronicle, 1994-2001	8	(21)
'Check'!...but not 'Mate'	29	(2)
2 Theories and Perspectives on the Zapatista Insurrection	31	(33)
Gramscian Approach	32	(4)
Laclau and Mouffe's Theory of Discourse	36	(6)
Academic Autonomist Marxist Approach	42	(7)
Non-academic Radical Left Perspectives	49	(5)
Problems and Limitations of the Readings of the Zapatistas	54	(10)
3 The Project of Autonomy, Constituent Power and Empire	64	(26)
Ontological Theses	65	(2)
The Imaginary of Autonomy	67	(3)
From Radical Imaginary to Constituent Power	70	(3)
Genealogical Moments: The Re-emergence of Autonomy	73	(9)
Empire: The World Order	82	(8)
4 Zapatista Revolt and Revolutionary Subjectivities	90	(26)
Fidelity to an Event	90	(3)
The Event and Constituent Power	93	(1)
Not Just Any Event	94	(2)
Constructed Situations	96	(1)
Zapatistas: An Evental Situation	97	(7)
The Three Subjects of Fidelity	104	(8)
Towards a Future Event	112	(4)
5 Reading the Zapatistas Critically	116	(35)
Revolutionaries or Reformists	117	(6)
Zapatista Nationalism	123	(9)
Zapatistas and the State	132	(4)
Zapatistas and the Global Struggle	136	(6)
Autonomy's Black Holes	142	(9)
6 The Indigenous Social Imaginary and Zapatista Masks	151	(26)
Indigenous Metaphysics	152	(3)
Language and Reality	155	(7)
Maya Epistemology	162	(5)
Zapatista Masks	167	(10)
7 Conclusion	177	(11)
Implications for the Future	177	(7)
Towards a Theory of Militant Subjectivity	184	(4)
References	188	(8)
Index	196