1  

2  

3  

4  

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

11  

12  

Letters to the Editors  

14  

15  

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.    

 

 

27  26  

13  

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