The Chiapas Rebellion: The Struggle for Land and Democracy

In 1994, the Zapatista rebellion brought international attention to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. This book combines field work with historical and political research to provide a comprehensive history of conflict in this region and an analysis of this rural uprising against federal bureaucracy and landed elites. The book begins with an exploration of the history of ethnic and class conflict in Chiapas and moves on to trace the development of peasant and indigenous organizations in Chiapas since the early 1970s. The author compares three grassroots movements and examines the complexities of political change in the area. The focus is on the primacy of political struggle and on the importance of these movements in the construction and meaning of citizenship.