Zapatistas: The Chiapas Revolt and what it means for Radical Politics - Hardcover

Mentinis, Mihalis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745324878 ISBN 13: 9780745324876

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2006

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

A bold new approach to the Chiapas insurrection, to explore what the Zapatistas mean for the future of radical politcs everywhere. Drawing on situationist and autonomist ideas, this is a truly innovative read! (Philosophy Football)

Mentinis illuminates new modes of political organization, and provides theoretical and practical engagement with the Zapatista uprising against contemporary neoliberal capitalism. Conceptions of 'multitude', 'event' and the struggle to change the world without taking power are designed to build solidarity that will energise the movement and its supporters. This ground-breaking book traces the contours of the Zapatista movement from before 1994 to the present day. This study is scholarly, and more; the reader will be better armed with a desire for revolution. (Professor Ian Parker, Manchester Metropolitan University)

Very interesting. Mentinis takes discussion of the Zapatistas to a level beyond most commentaries. (Professor John Holloway, Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades of the BenemÈrita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla in Mexico)

This book is nevertheless the first substantially critical (but nonetheless sympathetic) analysis of the Zapatista movement. It shows convincingly that various discourses which have tried to explain the movement from within their pre-constituted terms are flawed. (Raymond van de Wiel, Birbeck University of London, Political Studies Review)

Synopsis:

The Zapatista Army for National Liberation burst onto the world stage on 1 January 1994, the implementation day of the NAFTA free trade zone across North America, when a group of 3000 indigenous guerrillas attacked and occupied several municipalities and townships in the Mexican state of Chiapas. On that day Subcomandante Marcos, the Zapatista commander, announced a revolution, and declared war on the Mexican government and global capitalism. Since then, there have been twelve years of war, destruction of indigenous communities by the federal army, and massacres by allied paramilitary groups. But there have also been, amongst the communities under Zapatista control, twelve years of resistance, of direct democracy, of autonomous education, and of intercontinental meetings for humanity and against neoliberalism. The Zaptistas have been an inspiration for thousands of activists across the world. They have also attracted much attention from political theorists and analysts. Despite the amount of attention the Zapatistas have aroused, there is still little consensus about the nature, strategies and efficacy of the movement.

"Zapatistas" provides a bold new approach to understanding the Zapatista insurrection. Firstly, Mentinis critically examines the integrity and logic of the Zaptista project with tools from radical political theory. In particular, he draws on concepts of hegemony from Antonio Gramsci and Ernesto Laclau, and of 'the event' from Alain Badiou. He also employs ideas from Situationism, the 'project of autonomy' of Cornelius Castoriadis and the 'constituent power' of Antonio Negri. Secondly, informed by a nine-month visit to the Zapatista autonomous zone in 2001, Mentinis looks to the indigenous political theory emerging within the Zapatista movement itself, and the importance the movement has had for radical politics and radical subjectivities, to deepen and develop the radical political theory of the academy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0745324878
• ISBN 13: 9780745324876
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224