[PeDAGoG] The communitarian revolutionary subject, new forms of social transformation

Wed Oct 6 05:51:12 CEST 2021

Dear Sujit, putting you in touch with Xochitl Leyva and Gustavo Esteva, 
both academic-activists in Mexico who are close to the Zapatistas (and 
both on the Global Tapestry core team), for their suggestions ...

Xochitl, Gustavo, see request below re. films and other materials on 
Zapatista.

thanks

ashish

On 04/10/21 11:55 am, Sujit.Sinha wrote:
>
> *Dear PeDAGoG members *
>
> **
>
> *This is about a Class on Zapatistas *
>
> This is one of the stories which we have discussed in our MA classes , 
> with urban activists , and with indigenous activists in India. With 
> this  last group we have done this in Hindi with activists in the 
> state of Maharashtra and Odisha, and in Bengali with rural activists 
> in West Bengal .  In every space, this is one of the most exciting 
> stories for the participants.
>
> I am attaching the power point we have used ( I have removed most of 
> the pictures we use as that makes the file close to 15 mb) . I am also 
> attaching a one page 11 point write-up which we also use for 
> individual reading and group discussion before a larger discussion 
> starts.
>
> I and my colleague Pallavi have no direct contact with the Zapatistas. 
> We have gathered all the information from books, writings ,  seminar 
> lectures , and audiovisuals  available in the net.
>
> I think quite a few in this *PeDAGoG* group are directly associated 
> with the Zapatistas and we would be glad to get feedback , 
> rectifications, modifications, additions etc.
>
> The number of  people , communities, marez and caracols have to be 
> upwardly revised as per latest reports we are getting.
>
> We have so far not used the film mentioned by Laurence  in class , 
> although I have seen and taken notes myself :
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqlZOa7DMiU 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqlZOa7DMiU> ('People Without Faces' 
> - Documentary about the Zapatistas)
>
> I am writing my notes on the above film here to assist anyone who 
> would like to use this film
>
> *On history and conflict with Mexican state *
>
> 0 – 3:30 : indigenous people of Mexico : their history of awakening, 
> map of Mexico ,their poor  socio economic status, less crime , 
> migration into and formation of urban centres in Chiapas
>
> 3:30 – 6:20 :  Radio Zapata , Declaration from lacandon forest for 
> autonomy , Basta! , EZLN – Zapatista Army for National Liberation , 
> War 1994 onwards, Sub-commandante Marcos speech.
>
> 6:20 – 9:00 : Land issue and precarious status of indigenous people , 
> interviews including of people hired in 1990s by Govt to repulse the 
> Zapatistas but now changed.
>
> 9:00 – 13:40 : Interviews with various external activists talking 
> about the status of indigenous people ,the “war” between Zapatistas 
> and Mexican govt, , the indigenous congress in 1974, scenes of a big ( 
> current 2016 ? ) meeting of Zapatistas
>
> 13:40 – 21:30 : In a caracol office a meeting explaining Zapatistas to 
> a whole bunch of national and international visitors,  the murders by 
> para-military forces in Acteal in 1997 while the govt. was 
> treacherously holding talks with Zapatistas, , about the large refugee 
> camp of people displaced by the para-military , the San Andreas 
> agreement , formation of  autonomous municipalities , formation of 
> caracols in 2003 , why the symbol of “snail”, caracols major task is 
> dealing with external  people/agencies / visitors , presence of 
> external observers ( 2016) as situation with Mexican govt has never 
> been “amicable”.
>
> 21:30 – 26:40 : Visitors come to Ejido Pueblo. Talk with displaced 
> persons describing govt atrocities , how para military gave the 
> ultimatum to join them or else ! , Lot of fresh displacements in 2013 
> , disruption of coffee farming , coming back in 2016 and re-building 
> farms.
>
> 26:40 – 33:50 : A  big meeting in Realidad , empty promises by govt , 
> teacher Galeano assassinated by para-military , Marcos declares that 
> someone has to die for Galeano to live on, and symbolically “Morcos 
> dies” and he takes the name Galeano.
>
> *More on their new governance , economy, schools *
>
> 33:50 – 35:40 : telling the myth of golden people ( the exploiters) , 
> wood people, corn people of multiple colors and types.
>
> 35:30 – 38:00 : Argentinian activist describes “production autonomy” 
> of Zapatistas, says lots of self-organizing work is still left , 
> contrasts Zapatista philosophy with state and market led consumerist 
> society and individualism.
>
> 38:00 – 42:25 : Visitors travel into Zapatista territory to a caracol 
> meeting where people are present from all “three levels” , talk on 
> women’s equality and liberation, and indigenous people’s autonomy and 
> self govt.
>
> 42:25 – 45:36 : Explaining the three levels pf governance : local , 
> municipal ( marez) and zonal ( caracol )
>
> 45:30 – 46:30 : the school
>
> 46:30 – 49:40  : while many who receive govt pensions are happy, the 
> Zapatistas refuse such handouts and depend upon their own sweat and 
> earnings . Collective agriculture and animal husbandry and other 
> occupations. Collective decisions on what to do with earnings . Coffee 
> cooperative
>
> 49:40 – 51:00 : general assembly ( not clear what level ) . Different 
> tribes getting together ( not so common before )
>
> 51:00 – 52: 50 :  Teacher talking about their gods and spirits, about 
> how they are appointed by community ,their autonomous schools , how 
> they willingly took voluntary outside help to set these up.
>
> 52:50 – 55:50 : their autonomy from national govt, their own birth 
> certificates and driver’s license,
>
> 55:50 - 57:30 : nice faces of various indigenous  people.
>
> This is also a request for any films on Zapatistas which show more 
> details about their autonomous three tier governance , meetings at the 
> local level, decisions and actions at marez and caracol levels , their 
> economy including non agri-cooperatives, their schools and university 
> and students engaged in practical activities outside class, their 
> health systems etc .
>
> Sujit
>
> *From:*GTA-PeDAGoG [mailto:gta-pedagog-bounces at lists.ourproject.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Davis, Laurence
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 30, 2021 6:09 PM
> *To:* Ted Trainer <tedtrainertsw at gmail.com>; Hari DK 
> <hari.coding at gmail.com>; David Barkin <dpbarkin at gmail.com>; Ariel 
> Salleh <arielsalleh7 at gmail.com>; Carlos Tornel <tornelc at gmail.com>; 
> Tom Abeles <tabeles at gmail.com>; gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org; to: 
> Radical Ecological Democracy list 
> <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [PeDAGoG] The communitarian revolutionary subject, new 
> forms of social transformation
>
> This is a very nice amination. Thank you for sharing it.
>
> Some of the following videos may also be useful for teaching purposes:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyqG-71zOi0 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyqG-71zOi0> ('Accidental Anarchist - 
> What is the Rojava Revolution?')
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqlZOa7DMiU 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqlZOa7DMiU> ('People Without Faces' 
> - Documentary about the Zapatistas)
>
> ...and my personal favourite...
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPl_Y3Qdb7Y 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPl_Y3Qdb7Y> ('Living Utopia: The 
> Anarchists and the Spanish Revolution')
>
> I use all of them in my third-year Government and Politics 
> undergraduate module, 'Contemporary Ecological and Anti-Capitalist 
> Politics', which I have taught for many years here at University 
> College Cork, Ireland.
>
> The following readings on their module syllabus, useful for those new 
> to the subject matter as well as more advanced readers, are also 
> generally well received by the students:
>
> John Clark, /Between Earth and Empire /(PM Press, 2019) and /The 
> Impossible Community/ (Bloomsbury, 2013)
>
> Murray Bookchin, /The Ecology of Freedom/ (AK Press, 2005)
>
> David Graeber, /The Democracy Project /(Allen Lane, 2013)
>
> Amadeo Bertolo, ‘Democracy and Beyond’, /Democracy and Nature/, Vol. 
> 5, Issue 2, July 1999, also available at 
> www.democracynature.org/vol5/bertolo_democracy.htm 
> <http://www.democracynature.org/vol5/bertolo_democracy.htm>
>
> William Morris, ‘Useful Work Versus Useless Toil’, in A.L. Morton 
> (ed.), /Political Writings of William Morris/ (Lawrence & Wishart, 1979)
>
> William Morris, /News from Nowhere /(1891)
>
> Michael Robertson, /The Last Utopians: Four Late 19th Century 
> Visionaries and Their Legacy/ (Princeton University Press, 2018)
>
> Ursula K. Le Guin, /The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia/ (Harper & 
> Row, 1974)
>
> Laurence Davis and Peter Stillman (eds.), /The New Utopian Politics of 
> Ursula K. Le Guin’s /The Dispossessed//(Lexington Books, 2005)
>
> Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, /Ecofeminism/ (Zed Books, 2014)
>
> Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, /As We Have Always Done: Indigenous 
> Freedom Through Radical Resistance/ (University of Minnesota Press, 2017)
>
> George Orwell, /Homage to Catalonia/ (1938)
>
> /Martha Ackelsberg, Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle 
> for the Emancipation of Women /(AK Press, 2004)
>
> /Sam Dolgoff (ed.), The Anarchist Collectives: Workers’ 
> Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution 1936-1939 /(Black Rose 
> Books, 1974)
>
> Valérie Fournier, ‘Utopianism and the cultivation of possibilities: 
> grassroots movements of hope’, in Martin Parker (ed.), /Utopia and 
> Organization/ (Blackwell, 2002), 189-216
>
> Dylan Fitzwater, /Autonomy Is in Our Hearts: Zapatista Autonomous 
> Government through the Lens of the Tsotsil Language /(PM Press, 2019)
>
> Ashish Kothari et. al. (eds.), /Pluriverse: A Post-Development 
> Dictionary/ (Tulika Books, 2019)
>
> Laurence Davis, ‘Anarchism’, in Vincent Geoghegan and Rick Wilford 
> (eds.), /Political Ideologies: An Introduction/ (Routledge, 2014), ch. 9
>
> Colin Ward, /Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction/ (Oxford University 
> Press, 2004)
>
> Solidarity,
>
> Laurence
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*GTA-PeDAGoG <gta-pedagog-bounces at lists.ourproject.org 
> <mailto:gta-pedagog-bounces at lists.ourproject.org>> on behalf of 
> Mofwoofoo <mofwoofoo at gmail.com <mailto:mofwoofoo at gmail.com>>
> *Sent:* 29 September 2021 22:15
> *To:* Ted Trainer <tedtrainertsw at gmail.com 
> <mailto:tedtrainertsw at gmail.com>>; Hari DK <hari.coding at gmail.com 
> <mailto:hari.coding at gmail.com>>; David Barkin <dpbarkin at gmail.com 
> <mailto:dpbarkin at gmail.com>>; Ariel Salleh <arielsalleh7 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:arielsalleh7 at gmail.com>>; Carlos Tornel <tornelc at gmail.com 
> <mailto:tornelc at gmail.com>>; Tom Abeles <tabeles at gmail.com 
> <mailto:tabeles at gmail.com>>; gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org 
> <mailto:gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org> 
> <gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org 
> <mailto:gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org>>; to: Radical Ecological 
> Democracy list <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com 
> <mailto:radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>>
> *Subject:* [PeDAGoG] The communitarian revolutionary subject, new 
> forms of social transformation
>
> *[EXTERNAL] *This email was sent from outside of UCC.
>
> I am writing as a long time radical anarchist activist "on the 
> ground". I am not a scholar, but I have read a lot over 55 years. 
> While I view the article (The communitarian revolutionary subject, new 
> forms of social transformation) worthwhile, it is nothing new at all. 
> Anarchist literature and scholarship goes back to the 1860's when 
> these same ideas were expressed. Anarchists have seen through the 
> problem of hierarchies in gov't. and in general. I have submitted the 
> 7 minute animation that I made in 2020 which explains a lot about 
> organizing in a horizontal fashion: 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wywMhg604W8&t=5s 
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wywMhg604W8&t=5s>. And how it might 
> be the only way to eliminate once and for all corruption in governments.
>
> Citizen participation a la transition towns initiatives, localization, 
> collectivism, decentralization, deconsummerism, self-reliance, 
> economies that promote the good of the whole, cooperation, respect for 
> the environment, etc. are ideas whirling around throughout the 
> internet and the world. And as I am sure it is clear to everyone in 
> this group, that the current system of capitalism is the perfect 
> recipe for suiciding the human race.
>
> Meanwhile, as capitalism is collapsing or is being collapsed, there 
> seems to be a rush to assert authoritarianism as soon as possible. And 
> clearly the vaccine mandate and the pcr tests are ways to do this. But 
> since the vaccine mandates will not go away no matter how hard the 
> pushback is, they seem to have plan b ready to go: world-wide food 
> shortages which would result in world-wide food riots and chaos, which 
> will justify martial law and state of emergency declarations, which at 
> least in the USA would empower FEMA to overstep the Constitution and 
> do whatever they want due to the executive orders that give them total 
> power.
>
> To avoid this from happening, people need to check on where their 
> area's food sources are coming from and if they will be available or 
> not. And in this way, using google or duck, duck, go one can ascertain 
> what really is happening and what is going to happen in these regards. 
> And if food shortages are indeed imminent, alert the citizenry to 
> prepare by storing up on rice, beans, lentils, grains, tins, and 
> storing food in preserves and salt for perhaps 6 months and setting up 
> programs for those who don't have a few hundred dollars to spend to be 
> able to be prepared as well.
>
> Finally, I am the founder of a mostly latino, artist, eco-community in 
> Ecuador (chambalabamba.org <http://chambalabamba.org>, under 
> construction) since 2012, and believe me, this is not the solution for 
> the world. It takes years to get it going, most communities fail for 
> lack of funds or cohesion, it is not for everybody, and it is a false 
> hope for those who believe that this is the way, imho.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Ashish Kothari

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<https://sutra.vikalpsangam.org/>

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Ashish Kothari

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