Real and Virtual Chiapas: Magic Realism and the Left

Why is the drama in Chiapas so compelling? What is the appeal that has led so many progressive people outside Mexico to make it the focus of their attention? In the early days the caustic observations, self-reflexive wit, and biting perception of Marcos held foreigners spellbound, and surprised and charmed millions of Mexicans. But beyond the figure of Marcos - heroic, analytic, rebellious, amusing and solemn by turns - stands the appeal of the events as seen from a great distance. As Pierluigi Sullo, Nino Lisi and Marcello Vigli all note and debate in the pages of the Italian daily, Il Manifesto, the vast mobilization around Chiapas in Italy, the avalanche of signatures on the petitions of protest, and the massive participation in the national demonstrations protesting the massacre at Acteal 'mean something important for the left.' In this essay I propose to examine a number of the complexities that make the situation at once so explosive and so resistant to resolution. In doing so I will identify the reductionism that produces a simplified version of events that is necessarily misleading. I will then analyse the very mixed role of electronic communication which has, on the one hand, saved countless lives by relaying information on military and paramilitary violence and human rights abuses around the world, but has also provided a remarkably 'flattened' picture of the actors and events in Chiapas. This picture constitutes a kind of 'virtual' Chiapas that is instantly available to us on a computer screen, but which bears only a very partial resemblance to the 'real' Chiapas that Chiapanecans themselves or foreign activists, human rights workers, EZLN sympathizers, or even casual visitors would find on the ground in southern Mexico

Virtual Chiapas: A Reply to Paulson

On reading Justin Paulson's thoughtful critique of my article I am struck by how much of what he says reinforces the case I have made. To be sure, the first section of the essay doesn't address my work at all, but rather offers Paulson's own interpretation of the nature of globalization, neoliberalism and the Zapatista response. But once he turns to my ideas, Paulson argues that I am mistaken in my assertion that the agrarista dream cannot be realized in the conflict zone in Eastern Chiapas because the situation is not a simple case of poor landless peasants facing off against traditional large landowners, i.e. haciendados. Yet the material he offers to refute my view, the aspects of agrarian history he says I neglected to detail, in fact provide further evidence for my reading of the situation which is that it is very complex, often pits one group of indigenous people against another, and frequently degenerates into a 'war of the poor' against one another

New Challenges for Fieldworkers in Latin American and Caribbean Studies

This essay aims to stimulate debate by proposing that the imposition of ill-conceived research protocols by universities and grant giving institutions not only blocks the kind of personal contact between researchers and subjects that makes for insightful findings, but actually imperils the researchers themselves. The protocols are meant to protect research subjects from harm, but this goal is a far more complex and difficult undertaking than those imposing these protocols seem to grasp. In particular, ethics administrators’ focus on obtaining ‘informed consent’ underscores their lack of direct experience with the full process of research and dissemination of findings because the decisive point that bears on the safety and happiness of research subjects is not the moment when these people accept the fieldworker’s invitation to share their thoughts and experiences. Rather, it is the inevitably difficult decisions made by researchers regarding how much of the material they have collected can actually be published. Resumen: Nuevos desafíos para investigadores de campo en el estudio de América Latina y del Caribe Este ensayo argumenta que las instituciones universitarias y de financiamiento académico imponen protocolos de investigación inadecuados que no sólo impiden el tipo de contacto entre investigadores y sujetos que generan resultados interesantes, sino que además ponen en peligro a los mismos investigadores. Los protocolos están diseñados para proteger a los sujetos de investigación de cualquier peligro, pero aquel objetivo es mucho más complejo y difícil realizar de lo que los administrando los protocoles aparentemente entienden. La importancia que los administradores de la ética académica le otorgan al ‘consentimiento informado’ pone en evidencia su falta de experiencia directa con la totalidad del proceso de investigación y de difusión de resultados. Lo que realmente determina la seguridad y el nivel de felicidad del sujeto de investigación no es el momento en que este acepta ser parte de la investigación, sino que son las siempre difícil decisiones que toma el investigador al decidir que material conviene, o no, publicar

Review of The Cuban Reader: History, Culture, Politics

The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics, by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr, Alfredo Prieto, Pamela Maria Smorkaloff, Duke University Press, 2019

Estudio de los nuevos Movimientos Sociales en America Latina y la cuestión de la Autonomía

RESUMEN: Este ensayo explora las diferencias existentes entre los movimientos sociales de America Latina y Europa Occidental pero ubica una similitud importante en la actitud de desconfianza extrema que ambos manifiestan hacia los partidos políticos tradicionales. La preocupación constante con respecto a la autonomía del movimiento se manifiesta tanto en la actitud de los activistas como en la de los investigadores que los estudian. Sin embargo, la autora sugiere que gran parte del temor de pérdida de autonomía es infundado ya que muchas veces la capacidad de los movimientos de radicalizar a los partidos es superior al poder de los partidos de subyugar e incorporar a movimientos sociales dentro de sus estructuras partidarias.ABSTRACT: This paper explores the differences between Western European and Latin American social movments but finds that, overall, both are characterized by extreme distrust of traditional parties. Intense concem for movement autonomy is expressed both by movement activists and the researchers who study them. However, the author argues that much of the fear of loss of autonomy is misplaced because movements often radicalized parties far more than parties subdue the movements they incorporate into their fold

Estudio de los nuevos movimientos sociales en America Latina y la cuestión de la autonomía

[ES] Este ensayo explora las diferencias existentes entre los movimientos sociales de America Latina y Europa Occidental pero ubica una similitud importante en la actitud de desconfianza extrema que ambos manifiestan hacia los partidos políticos tradicionales. La preocupación constante con respecto a la autonomía del movimiento se manifiesta tanto en la actitud de los activistas como en la de los investigadores que los estudian. Sin embargo, la autora sugiere que gran parte del temor de pérdida de autonomía es infundado ya que muchas veces la capacidad de los movimientos de radicalizar a los partidos es superior al poder de los partidos de subyugar e incorporar a movimientos sociales dentro de sus estructuras partidarias.[EN] This paper explores the differences between Western European and Latin American social movments but finds that, overall, both are characterized by extreme distrust of traditional parties. Intense concem for movement autonomy is expressed both by movement activists and the researchers who study them. However, the author argues that much of the fear of loss of autonomy is misplaced because movements often radicalized parties far more than parties subdue the movements they incorporate into their fold