The following paper is an attempt to understand and reflect uponon the construction of
Zapatista... more The following paper is an attempt to understand and reflect uponon the construction of Zapatista resistance in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista uprising January 1st, 1994 was the beginning of a struggle for autonomy and subsistence largely led by indigenous communities. The author will attempt to ground the Zapatista resistance in the long history of resistances in Chiapas and consider the new element in the oppressive structures in Mexico that is neoliberalism. After discussing the historical context, the paper will read the Zapatista organization and practices alongside theoretical conceptualizations ranging from Gramscian and Laclau-Mouffian hegemony as well as Castoriadian discussions on the project of autonomy to the theory of becoming posed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. After arguing that no theoretical conceptualizations can nor should adequately capture Zapatista lived experience, the paper will engage with anthropological insights largely infused by the Anthropology of Becoming presented by João Biehl and Peter Locke as well as the concept of prefiguration explained by Marianne Maeckelbergh. These approaches finally present new starting points for a positioning of anthropologists in contemporary social struggles that are defined by action and a desire for another world
The following paper is an attempt to understand and reflect uponon the construction of
Zapatista... more The following paper is an attempt to understand and reflect uponon the construction of Zapatista resistance in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista uprising January 1st, 1994 was the beginning of a struggle for autonomy and subsistence largely led by indigenous communities. The author will attempt to ground the Zapatista resistance in the long history of resistances in Chiapas and consider the new element in the oppressive structures in Mexico that is neoliberalism. After discussing the historical context, the paper will read the Zapatista organization and practices alongside theoretical conceptualizations ranging from Gramscian and Laclau-Mouffian hegemony as well as Castoriadian discussions on the project of autonomy to the theory of becoming posed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. After arguing that no theoretical conceptualizations can nor should adequately capture Zapatista lived experience, the paper will engage with anthropological insights largely infused by the Anthropology of Becoming presented by João Biehl and Peter Locke as well as the concept of prefiguration explained by Marianne Maeckelbergh. These approaches finally present new starting points for a positioning of anthropologists in contemporary social struggles that are defined by action and a desire for another world
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Papers by Moritz Engel
Zapatista resistance in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista uprising January 1st, 1994 was the
beginning of a struggle for autonomy and subsistence largely led by indigenous communities.
The author will attempt to ground the Zapatista resistance in the long history of resistances in
Chiapas and consider the new element in the oppressive structures in Mexico that is
neoliberalism. After discussing the historical context, the paper will read the Zapatista
organization and practices alongside theoretical conceptualizations ranging from Gramscian
and Laclau-Mouffian hegemony as well as Castoriadian discussions on the project of
autonomy to the theory of becoming posed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. After
arguing that no theoretical conceptualizations can nor should adequately capture Zapatista
lived experience, the paper will engage with anthropological insights largely infused by the
Anthropology of Becoming presented by João Biehl and Peter Locke as well as the concept of
prefiguration explained by Marianne Maeckelbergh. These approaches finally present new
starting points for a positioning of anthropologists in contemporary social struggles that are
defined by action and a desire for another world
Zapatista resistance in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista uprising January 1st, 1994 was the
beginning of a struggle for autonomy and subsistence largely led by indigenous communities.
The author will attempt to ground the Zapatista resistance in the long history of resistances in
Chiapas and consider the new element in the oppressive structures in Mexico that is
neoliberalism. After discussing the historical context, the paper will read the Zapatista
organization and practices alongside theoretical conceptualizations ranging from Gramscian
and Laclau-Mouffian hegemony as well as Castoriadian discussions on the project of
autonomy to the theory of becoming posed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. After
arguing that no theoretical conceptualizations can nor should adequately capture Zapatista
lived experience, the paper will engage with anthropological insights largely infused by the
Anthropology of Becoming presented by João Biehl and Peter Locke as well as the concept of
prefiguration explained by Marianne Maeckelbergh. These approaches finally present new
starting points for a positioning of anthropologists in contemporary social struggles that are
defined by action and a desire for another world