caracoles to creativity
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A Letter From The Editors
EZLN: Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. This refers to the political and militant group that led the uprising on January 1, 1994 against the Mexican State. Zapatistas: This term encompasses both the EZLN and those who are in solidarity with the EZLN and live out this solidarity through daily resistance and participation in autonomous caracol community frameworks. Subcomandante Marcos: I explore this figure further in this zine, but Marcos both is and is not a human representation of the Zapatista movement. He at once has an identity, as a non-indigenous leader in the movement, and does not have an identity, as a masked figure who claims to represent and speak for and as the people of the movement.
Maize: The subsistence crop of much of the southern region of Mexico. A type of corn that can be grinded to make maza, the corn and water mixture that can be used to make tortillas, one of the staples of the regional diet. Cultivation of maize is a tradition dating back to the pre-colonization era Maya.
Chiapas: Mexico’s southernmost state. According to CONEVAL, a Mexican economic evaluations team, Chiapas has the highest poverty rate in the country and the third-highest percentage of people who indicated on census forms that they identify as indigenous. These statistics represent lower rates than the actual count, as many communities and households could not be reached or cannot fill out census forms due to language or literacy barriers.
NAFTA: The North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade bloc agreement that went into effect on the day of the first Zapatista uprising, January 1, 1994. NAFTA significantly lowered trade restrictions between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Of concern to the Zapatistas was the ways in which the agreement put many small farmers out of work with the influx of U.S. companies and the massive increase in food prices.
Glossary
Letters to the Editors
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Letters to the Editors
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The image of the caracol, the snail or conch shell, may first conjure images of a slow, miniscule, and odd-looking creature whose shells can be found in crumbled batches on beach sands or latched onto rocks in a tidepool, and whose slime leaves a barely-visible trail wherever it goes. My readers may imagine the snail as an unimpressive creature, nowhere near as powerful as the eagle or the serpent, creatures that symbolize formal power in Mexico and the United States. It is this caracol which serves as the symbol of the possibilities of community for the Zapatista movement, representing the interconnectedness of peoples, the movement’s patience, and its commitment to autonomy. The snail’s shell is open on one end, like a door open to influence and possibility, or by which ideas and desires can exit “like speakers to spread our word” or be heard from afar16. Its core is spiral-shaped, visually representing the communities of Chiapas in solidarity with the Zapatista movement, which as autonomous villages, are interconnected by their commitment to creating and recreating a new power structure, one that focuses on decentralizing formal power and resisting the forces that silenced their histories. Caracoles also carry their homes on their backs. They travel with their shell homes, and when they need to find a new home to adjust for size or environment, they go in search of a new shell to carry. Yet these homes are not simply an added appendage, these homes are livelihoods and protection for caracoles. Caracoles, much like Zapatistas, go out in search of their homes and live in the home of their choice through daily experience. The Zapatista movement not only believes in resistance to the Mexican state, but lives this resistance through daily refusals of government aid and creation of their own political and social spaces. Thus the Zapatista movement is well-emblemized by these caracoles as they seek to create their own homes, be open to possibilities and imagination, and defy those who believe they are inferior.
Caracoles are central to the Zapatista movement’s commitment to autonomy and transforming power. One of the reasons the Zapatista revolution is so revolutionary is their insistence on creating informal power structures instead of directly challenging the Mexican State. Instead of attempting to overthrow the centralized government, the Zapatista movement works to resist and create political space for their demands. Zapatista notions of power reject its connection to being centralized and part of a State, and favor Foucault’s definition of power as a “web of relations particular to any given moment and set o f c i rcumstances. These autonomous communit ies create a n e t w o r k o f r e s i s t a n c e t h a t i s connected, coordinated, and self governing, and which enables them to improve their capacity to make a different world possible17. Zapatismo, the way of living life in solidarity with the Zapatista revolution, allows communities to put into practice their imagined ideal and alternative life immediately, instead of waiting for more power to do so. It proposes taking power “not by storming the National Palace but on the level of empowering citizens as social actors”18. In the mural featured above, in the town of Oventic, a caracol in traditional Zapatista garb, a black mask only revealing the eyes, speaks about the caracoles system of autonomy and resistance: “Slow, but moving forward.”
Power is vested in the hands of members of the communities, who work together, connected in a spiraling manner to their core beliefs and demands of the movement. By r e o r g a n i z i n g p o w e r i n t h e communities themselves, thus
creating a democracy for the people and by the people, the Zapatista movement transforms formal notions of power and creates a political space for their resistance movement by both supporting and living their mission and goals.
The Zapatista movement can be distinguished by one of its defining features, the black ski mask that covers the entire face except the eyes. Zapatistas cover their faces with either black ski masks or red or black bandanas to both distinguish themselves as in solidarity with the Zapatista revolution, and to disguise their individuality to further the Zapatista collective. For the Zapatistas, their faces are covered so that they can be seen. They must disappear as individuals in order to be heard19. Masks directly address the Mexican state’s silencing by both recognizing that the government’s ignorance of the Chiapas state has rendered them without histories, rights, or identities, and pushing back against this silencing by creating a collective with an identity, a powerful one. Black masks and evocations of the “dark earth” represent the indigeneity of the movement by the Zapatistas in their communiqués. They are the ones whose light has been darkened by silence. They are the ones who now use this darkness to create something new. These masks are an employment of creativity in the community from within, and thrust outward, upward, and into the lives and minds of readers, seers, and listeners. Alongside their black ski masks, the Zapatista movement employs creat iv i ty through word, communicating in a manner that works to destabilize the hierarchies of communication rampant in media, censorship, government monitoring, accessibility, and television. The Zapatista movement does not play a large role in daily news and media sources in Mexico,
yet has a multitude of ways in which they’ve been able to harness a global audience of readers and listeners by combining their word with action, and their messages with metaphor, poetry, and affective language20. Their employment of language and word as a tool to gain both recognition and solidarity is essential to the Zapatista revolution and its goals.
Though word is not all that the movement employs when these communiqués, poems, and songs are sent out into the world. Their authorship and associated action also contribute to the word’s effectiveness at creating a collective body of Zapatistas through which resistance is creatively lived. The word of the Zapatistas is not without action. The word is lived through daily resistance to formal power and its economics, politics, and hierarchies of knowledge and language21. The creation of the word employed in communiqués, poems, and songs is also strategically part of the creativity of the movement. As I explore further in the following pages, Subcomandante Marcos, whether the individual behind the mask spoke or wrote the word or not, is recognized as the collective speaker for the movement. His evocations of maize, darkness, indigeneity, and rebellion are emblematic of the Zapatista movement’s embodied creative resistance.
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Subcomandante Marcos represents the Zapatista movement as a collective and creative body. His presence and name represent the movement in that they are not attached to an individual, but rather speak for all those who participate in the movement. Subcomandante Marcos is an intriguing figure, as he both is a particular individual, Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vincente23, and a figure emblematic of a larger collective. By covering his face with a mask, Marcos keeps hidden his identity so that he can further the collective identity of the movement. The Zapatista movement is all about making and creating spaces within a system that seeks to silence their ability to have such spaces. By creating new spaces, the Zapatistas create ownership within a system that strives to own the other24. By creating a collective identity, the Zapatistas are no longer the disempowered Other, but rather mobilize their alone-togetherness through creativity and the employment of Subcomandante Marcos as their representative. Subcomandante Marcos made his international debut on January 1, 1994 when he spoke from San Cristobal’s town hall and informed the public that the EZLN had seized four towns in Chiapas and was holding them in revolt from the Mexican government25. His debut coincided with the unveiling of the Zapatista movement as we know it today, one that
demands and creates a space to reimagine politics, governance, relationships, and power. He began the movement much as he continues to act today, with his face covered by the traditional Zapatistas ski mask and as a voice for the people. Most of the communiqués released by the Zapatistas are credited to Subcomandante Marcos, but also emphasize that his voice is one that speaks for many. At the beginning of each declaration, Subcomandante Marcos writes “Through my voice speaks the voice of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation”. Participants often remark,“We are all Marcos”. As Marcos speaks to the people of the movement and readers across the world, he both embodies the revolution and furthers the collective body. Subcomandante Marcos’ changing public presence is particularly interesting. He is a specific individual who has been interviewed by news sources and been the subject of documentaries, but also declared in 2001 that he was to “return to the forest,” as his role as an individual speaker was no longer serving its collective purpose. His role as a representative of the whole was of utmost importance, and when the world became more interested in his individual identity, mestizo background, and face behind the mask, he hid from the public eye to preserve the anonymity the movement needed to continue. Subcomandante Marcos effectively sacrificed the individual to further the movement, an employment of creativity as resistance and response.
Corn
Hancox, Dan. 2013. The Village Against the World. London, Verso.
Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights.
Vanolo, Alberto. 2012. “AlternaRve Capitalism and CreaRve Economy: the Case of ChrisRania”. InternaRonal Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 37(5): 1785-‐98.
Sixth DeclaraRon of the Lacandon Jungle, SecRon VI, July 2005
Henck, Nick 2007. Subcommander Marcos. Durham, Duke University Press.
Conant, Jeff. 2010. PoeRcs of Resistance : The RevoluRonary Public RelaRons of the ZapaRsta Insurgency. Oakland, AK Press.
Sixth DeclaraRon of the Lacandon Jungle, SecRon VI, July 2005
Contributors: Text CitaRons 1: Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. 1994. “La palabra”. Mexico. 2: ClandesRne RevoluRonary Indigenous Commicee, General Command of the ZapaRsta Army of NaRonal LiberaRon. 2001. “The Tree that is the Mexican NaRon.” Oaxaca, Oaxaca. 3:ClandesRne RevoluRonary Indigenous Commicee, General Command of the ZapaRsta Army of NaRonal LiberaRon. 2001. “The Tree that is the Mexican NaRon.” Oaxaca, Oaxaca. 4: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 5: Emery, Douglas B.. 1993. “Self, CreaRvity, PoliRcal Resistance”. Poli%cal Psychology 14 (2): 351. 6: Scoc, James C.. 2008. Weapons of the Weak : Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press. 7: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 8: Conant, Jeff. 2010. PoeRcs of Resistance : The RevoluRonary Public RelaRons of the ZapaRsta Insurgency. Oakland, AK Press. 9: Conant, Jeff. 2010. PoeRcs of Resistance : The RevoluRonary Public RelaRons of the ZapaRsta Insurgency. Oakland, AK Press. 10: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 11: Khorasanee, Dina. 2007. “'Resistance as CreaRon': A New Sociability in ArgenRna”. Development in Prac%ce 17(6). 765–74. 12: Vanolo, Alberto. 2012. “AlternaRve Capitalism and CreaRve Economy: the Case of ChrisRania”. InternaRonal Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 37(5): 1785-‐98. 13: Hancox, Dan. 2013. The village against the world. London, Verso. 14: Hancox, Dan. 2013. The village against the world. London, Verso. 15: Comandante David and Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. 2001. “Seventh Anniversary of the ZapaRsta Uprising”. Mexico. 16: Subcomandante insurgente Marcos. 2001. “Thirteeth Steele”. Mexico. 17: Casanova, Pablo Gonzalez 2005. “The ZapaRsta "caracoles": Networks of resistance and autonomy.” Socialism and Democracy 19(3): 79-‐92. 18: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 19: Conant, Jeff. 2010. PoeRcs of Resistance : The RevoluRonary Public RelaRons of the ZapaRsta Insurgency. Oakland, AK Press. 20: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights.
21: ClandesRne RevoluRonary Indigenous Commicee, General Command of the ZapaRsta Army of NaRonal LiberaRon. 2001. “It is the Hour of the Word”. Nurio, Michoacán. 22: Henck, Nick 2007. Subcommander Marcos. Durham, Duke University Press. 23: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 24: Coretz, Gabi. In-‐class discussion 8 March 2016. 25: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. 26: Conant, Jeff. 2010. PoeRcs of Resistance : The RevoluRonary Public RelaRons of the ZapaRsta Insurgency. Oakland, AK Press. 27: Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. 2001. “The Word and the Silence”. Mexico. Other Contributors: Caracoles: New Paths of Resistance. 2003. Chiapas Media Project. Promedios. Cook-‐Contreras, Shelley. 2010. “ZapaRsta Women’s Mural Project” YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2016. hcps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOy9MWTkyWE Duarte, Caleb. The Black Panthers and the ZapaRstas: An Encounter hcp://www.edelo.org/#/zapantera-‐negra/4571745556 Duncombe, Stephen. 2008. Zinester's Guide : Notes from Underground : Zines and the PoliRcs of AlternaRve Culture (2). Portland, US: Microcosm Publishing Earle, Duncan and Jeanne Simonelli, eds. 2005. Uprising of Hope : Sharing the ZapaRsta Journey to AlternaRve Development. Walnut Creek, AltaMira Press. Fox, Jonathan 1999. “Mexico’s Indigenous PopulaRon” Cultural Survival Quarterly. Issue 23.1 Spring hcps://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublicaRons/csq/arRcle/mexicos-‐indigenous-‐populaRon Khasnabish, Alex 2010. ZapaRstas: Rebellion from the Grassroots to the Global. Halifax, Fernwood Publishing. Piepmeier, Alison. 2009. Girl Zines. New York: NYU Press. Piepmeier, Alison. 2008. “Why Zines Macer: Materiality and the CreaRon of Embodied Community”. American Periodicals 18 (2). Ohio State University Press: 213–38. Scoc, James C.. 2008. Weapons of the Weak : Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press. Stallabrass, Julian. 1997. “The Dead, Our Dead: Murals and Banners of the ZapaRstas”. Third Text. 38: 55-‐64. van der Haar, Gemma. 2004. “The ZapaRsta Uprising and the Struggle for Indigenous Autonomy”. Revista Europea De Estudios LaRnoamericanos Y Del Caribe / European Review of LaRn American and Caribbean Studies, 76: 99–108. Zibechi, Raul. 2013. “The Art of Building a New World: Freedom According to the ZapaRstas”. The Americas Program. hcp://fubarandgrill.org/node/1544
Images: Title Page: Fernandez, Eloy. 2012. “Postales del EZLN (64): los verdaderos caracoles zapaRstas” Estación claridad: vengo llegando. hcps://javiersoriaj.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/postales-‐del-‐ezln-‐64-‐los-‐verdaderos-‐caracoles-‐zapaRstas/ Page 2: Dorset Chiapas Solidarity. 2015. “La Garrucha Good-‐Government Council (Jbg) Denounces Two Paramilitary Acacks”. hcps://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/tag/denuncia/ Page 6: History & Maps. 2015. “Chiapas Mexico Map” hcp://www.lahistoriaconmapas.com/atlas/city-‐map2/chiapas-‐mexico-‐map.htm Page 7-‐9: Catholic Lane 2016. “Blank Newspaper”. Catholic Lane. hcp://www.catholiclane.com/the-‐catholic-‐press-‐needs-‐to-‐get-‐over-‐its-‐father-‐maciel-‐syndrome/blank-‐newspaper/ Page 10-‐11: Red Power Media 2015. “CelebraRng 22 years of ZapaRsmo”. hcps://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/tag/zapaRsta/ Page 13: ClandesRno, Daniel. 2015. “Próxima Estacion:Esperanza”. Tumblr. hcp://danielclandesRno.tumblr.com/post/88959917653/hecho-‐por-‐gran-‐om Page 14: Flickr 2006. “Detail, Todos hacia La Sexta Declaración: ZapaRsta Caracol” Flickr. hcps://www.flickr.com/photos/yaxchibonam/207459293 Page 15: Carli de Moraes, Eduardo 2014. “The ZapaRstas’ vision of global solidarity”. Awestruck Wanderer.hcps://awestruckwanderer.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/the-‐zapaRstas-‐vision-‐of-‐global-‐solidarity/ Page 16: Schools for Chiapas 2016. “An examinaRon of the history and use of masks and why the ZapaRstas cover their faces.” Schools for Chiapas. hcp://www.schoolsforchiapas.org/lesson-‐plans/mask/
Duarte, Caleb. The Black Panthers and the ZapaRstas: An Encounter hcp://www.edelo.org/#/zapantera-‐negra/4571745556
“ZapaRsta Project.” 2014-‐16. Tumblr. hcp://zapaRstaproject.tumblr.com Page 17: Schools for Chiapas 2014. “What’s Behind the Mask?” hcp://www.schoolsforchiapas.org/teach-‐chiapas/lesson-‐plansx/
Stallabrass, Julian. 1997. “The Dead, Our Dead: Murals and Banners of the ZapaRstas”. Third Text. 38: 55-‐64.
Page 18: Grove, Samuel 2013. “A Utopia Towards Peace? Notes On Marinaleda”. New Lew Project.. hcp://www.newlewproject.org/index.php/site/arRcle_comments/a_utopia_towards_peace_notes_on_marinaleda Page 19:Solidarity 2014.”Subcomandante Marcos Steps Down: What's Next for the EZLN?” hcps://www.solidarity-‐us.org/site/subcomandante_marcos_steps_down Page 20: Casanova, Alexia 2014. “RevoluRon will be Webcast” Fnewsmagazine. hcp://fnewsmagazine.com/2014/02/revoluRon-‐will-‐be-‐webcast/ Page 21: Radical Graphics 2013. “A Family of ZapaRsta RevoluRonaries, All Masked and Raising Their Fists”. The Graphics Library of RevoluRon and Social JusRce hcp://www.punkerslut.com/graphics-‐library-‐of-‐revoluRon-‐and-‐social-‐jusRce/zapaRstas-‐and-‐ezln/radicalgraphics-‐-‐-‐949/radicalgraphics-‐-‐-‐949.php Page 22: Hardage, Sherry 2013. “OvenRk and ZapaRsta Art.” Soul InvesRng. hcp://sherryhardagetravel.blogspot.com/2013/02/ovenRc-‐and-‐zapaRsta-‐art.html Enlivened Learning “The Art of Rebellion” hcp://enlivenedlearning.com/2012/12/ Page 23: Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007.”Himno ZapaRsta” In The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. Page 24: Schools for Chiapas 2016. “An examinaRon of the history and use of masks and why the ZapaRstas cover their faces.” Schools for Chiapas. hcp://www.schoolsforchiapas.org/lesson-‐plans/mask/ Magical Daydream 2014. “About ChrisRania”. hcp://www.magicaldaydream.com/2014/09/dos-‐and-‐donts-‐for-‐chrisRania-‐copenhagen-‐also-‐about-‐creeps.html Hancox, Dan. 2013. The Village Against the World. Goodreads hcp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17262738-‐the-‐village-‐against-‐the-‐world Henck, Nick 2007. Subcommander Marcos. Durham, Duke University Press. hcps://www.dukeupress.edu/subcommander-‐marcos/?viewby=Rtle Peña-‐Vargas, Canek and Greg Ruggiero, eds. 2007. The Speed of Dreams. San Francisco: City Lights. hcp://www.amazon.com/Speed-‐Dreams-‐Selected-‐WriRngs-‐2001-‐2007/dp/0872864
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