Abstract

STAHLER-SHOLK, Richard. Resistance, identity and autonomy: Transformation in Zapatista communities. Rev. pueblos front. digit. [online]. 2015, vol.10, n.19, pp.199-227. ISSN 1870-4115.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2015.19.51.

This article examines the collective identity forged by everyday life in autonomous Zapatista communities in Chiapas. It develops three arguments: 1. The persistence of the Zapatista movement 20 years after its public emergence largely due to the construction of a new subjectivity expressed as collective identity among participants. 2. This identity is characterized as a construction process through the social relationships and forms of doing politics practiced in autonomous territories, rather than a fixed profile. 3. Zapatista autonomy is an example of «counterpower», which could be of relevance to other anti-establishment social movements in Latin America.

Keywords : Zapatism; autonomy; indigenous identity; resistance; counterpower.