Slides for Sociology W3480: Extra Lecture

Revolutions, Social Movements, and Contentious Politics

Columbia College

Spring 2007

Prepared by Charles Tilly and

Ernesto Castañeda

send questions to ec2183@columbia.edu

Extra lecture:What Happened in Oaxaca?

Triangulating Outside Witness Accountsto Analyze the Contentious Politics

in Oaxaca, Mexico

Nayeli Chavez-Geller, UNIVISIONRene Ramos, MPA Student SIPA Columbia

Ivania de la Cruz Orozco, MPA Student SIPA ColumbiaManuela Garza, The New School and Fundación Comunitaria Oaxaca

Ernesto Castañeda-Tinoco, PhD Student Department of Sociology, Columbia Leslie A. Martino, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, CUNY, The Graduate Center

Thursday April 12th, 2007.

Organized by Mexican Initiative Co-sponsored by the

Institute of Latin American Studies, LASA-SIPA, and ALAS-TC.

Completion rate of primaryeducation below 88%

Less than 87% of women assistedby a doctor during labor

Infant mortality rate is above 30/1000 births

30% of the population lack access to running water

40% of the population live in houses with no sewage

7% of the population live in houses with no electricity

There have been no Governors from opposition parties thus far

Sources:- Los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio en México: Informe de Avance 2006- Map: http://oaxaca-travel.com- INEGI

Brief overview on Brief overview on OaxacaOaxaca

Chronology Oaxaca 2006Chronology Oaxaca 2006• May 22:

– Primary and Secondary school teachers from all over the state arrive to Oaxaca City to ask for wage increases (as they often do year after year)

– State Governor offers only a third of what they ask for– Teachers block the access to government buildings, stores, gas stations, airport and

main entrances to the city• June 14:

– Governor withdraws offer and attempts to end the strike by using public force– The attack fails and professors are joined by NGOs and other social actors– Creation of the APPO

• July: – PRI loses 9 out of 11 National Congress positions to the PRD– Implications: budget negotiations and political control

• October 27: – At least 3 people are killed during a shooting, including journalist Bradley Roland Will

• October 29-30: – Federal Police enters Oaxaca City

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

What Happened in Oaxaca?

Triangulating Outside Witness Accounts to Analyze the Contentious Politics in

Oaxaca, Mexico

Ernesto Castañeda

Before Police Repression of June 14th

Mobilized Teachers Watching the World Cup

Photos by Ernesto Castañeda June 10-18th, 2006

Teachers in the Public Plaza

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

DuringDuring PolicePolice RepressionRepression

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007) 11

Source: http://www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com/

Source: http://www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com/

After Police Repression

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

Escalation of Demands and Polarization

Increase in political gratifies across the city

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

Social Situation in Oaxaca

• Important state/society divide.• Previous patronage and corporative relations

disrupted.• Generalized discontent among organized groups.• Growing polarization between mobilized citizens,

and small business owners, tourism workers and non-mobilized citizens.

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

APPO’s Programmatic Goals• Scholarships,• Better school infrastructure, • Salary increases • The resignation of the governor Ulises Ruiz so, as in the

18th century, the main target is not an abstract state but a concrete figure who is supposed to hold power (Tilly 2005, Foucault 1975).

APPO’s self-declared goals also include:• a real democratic system, and• ideological elements such as the struggle against

capitalism, imperialism and fascism.

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

APPO Repertoire• Extended sit-ins and camping downtown.• Marches, demonstrations, and rallies.• Pamphlets, flyers, radio programs, CDs.• Members generally unarmed.• Few violent attacks against state agents except for

self-defense.• No civilian targets.• Have set fire to police vehicles and have entered

public and private buildings that represent state power or large capital.

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

Photos NYT.

Revolutionary Situation in Oaxaca?

1) contenders or coalitions of contenders advancing exclusive competing claims to control of the state or some segment of it: mobilization process. – YES (to an extent but later divisions would appear and most are for

conducting changes through conventional electoral politics)

2) commitment to those claims by a significant segment of the citizenry: mobilization plus diffusion– YES within APPO but important opposition by other civil society groups

specially small businesses and tourism industry would appear

3) incapacity or unwillingness of rulers to suppress thealternative coalition and/or commitment to its claims: ruler-subject interaction – No. As of 2008 they have been able to placate the movement and the

Governor still holds his post.(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

Revolutionary Outcomes (Table 7-2 Tilly 2006. Regimes and Repertoires.)

1) defections of regime members2) acquisition of armed force by revolutionary coalitions3) neutralization or defection of the regime’s armed force4) control of the state apparatus by members of

revolutionary coalition5) transfer of state power to new ruling coalition.

So far for Oaxaca the answer to these questions is NO

(Tilly & Castañeda 2007)

Anti-APPO mobilizations

Source: “El Imparcial”

References and sources:• Michel Foucault. Discipline & Punish. 1975.• Charles Tilly. 2004. Social Movements. Paradigm.• Charles Tilly. 2005. Popular Contention in Great Britain.• Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow. 2007. Contentious Politics.

Paradigm. • Charles Tilly. 2006. Regimes and Repertoires. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.• Charles Tilly. 2007. Democracy. Cambridge.

• http://web.media.mit.edu/~andresmh/oaxaca/• http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/bradleywill/archive.html• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_JQfGfLEU8• http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/oaxaca/en.html• http://zapagringo.blogspot.com/2006/10/q-with-appo-spokesperson.html