Zapatismo Beyond Borders: New Imaginations of

Political Possibility
Callahan, Manuel . The Times Higher Education Supplement : THE ; London  Iss. 1892,  (Apr 16, 2009):
52.

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ABSTRACT
According to Khasnabish, the Zapatistas have had "the greatest impact not necessarily upon the processes of
political struggle in the North but on the way that political struggle is envisioned and imagined". Drawing largely
from the work of post-structuralists and Autonomist Marxists, he also successfully explores the theoretical
frameworks that help explain the context within which Zapatismo has taken root, highlighting the "interlacing
factors" claimed by many activists who connect neoliberal violence to longstanding systems of oppression, who
reject political action that imposes structures of domination, and who recognise personal responsibility in
executing change.

FULL TEXT
Zapatismo Beyond Borders: New Imaginations of Political Possibility. By Alex Khasnabish. University of Toronto
Press 320pp, Pounds 48.00 and Pounds 22.50. ISBN 9780802098306 and 96333. Published 19 October 2008
Alex Khasnabish's Zapatismo Beyond Borders: New Imaginations of Political Possibility is an ambitious and timely
book that examines the resonance of the revolutionary movement Zapatismo, and its success in animating a
transnational, anticapitalist force.
Taking care to read it from situated contexts, Khasnabish incorporates extensive interviews with a diverse array of
prominent activists from traditional and non-traditional solidarity groups and projects. Introducing each chapter
with key statements, primarily by the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional's (EZLN) spokesman
Subcomandante Marcos, Khasnabish's project mirrors the complex emergent political ethos he narrates, while
refusing to close off the possibility of multiple readings of, and engagements with, the Zapatista word. He
convincingly argues that the Zapatistas, from their base in Mexico's southernmost and poorest state, Chiapas,
have succeeded in facilitating "new kinds of political subjectivities capable of inhabiting a new terrain". According
to Khasnabish, the Zapatistas have had "the greatest impact not necessarily upon the processes of political
struggle in the North but on the way that political struggle is envisioned and imagined".
Khasnabish invites students of the EZLN and more general readers to critically assess the cultural history of
Zapatismo by first charting a "history of radical political activism" in the North and the legacy of Mexico's complex
revolutionary past, both of which make available what he calls a "powerful interpellating myth". Drawing largely
from the work of post-structuralists and Autonomist Marxists, he also successfully explores the theoretical
frameworks that help explain the context within which Zapatismo has taken root, highlighting the "interlacing
factors" claimed by many activists who connect neoliberal violence to longstanding systems of oppression, who
reject political action that imposes structures of domination, and who recognise personal responsibility in
executing change.
Not limiting his examination to the Left, Khasnabish also considers the counterinsurgent interests of dominant
institutions such as the RAND Corporation's preoccupation with "Zapatista social netwar". His critical reading of
specific historical contexts and theoretical frameworks helps explain "the resonance of Zapatismo" in which, like a
rhizome, it emerges from interconnected bases, transcends mainstream channels of political participation, fosters

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a transnational dialogue, and reinforces a mutual recognition of other struggles.
Unfortunately, so complex an undertaking is bound to leave some readers unsatisfied. Khasnabish often appears
trapped in viewing the Zapatistas primarily as an inspiration, leaving out specific Zapatista strategies of
autonomous political practice. Specialists, for instance, will be disappointed at the lack of a more complete
discussion of the Zapatista insistence on a collective subject, as embodied in the Juntas de Buen Gobierno and
Caracoles. Similarly, he misses a critical opportunity to more closely examine how Zapatista activists have
pursued a politics of encounter to develop new theory, strategy and political practice, as during the EZLN's
convening of the Festival Mundial de la Digna Rabia in Mexico City in 2008.
By anchoring his analysis with an examination of the 1997 massacre of pacifists by paramilitary forces at the
Chiapas refugee village of Acteal, Khasnabish overlooks many of the conflicts within the diverse Zapatista
solidarity community outside Chiapas, including the major splits between activists invested in hierarchical, elite
strategies and those committed to pursuing collective, horizontal political projects. At times his analysis seems
rigid, often overlooking the productive tension within each camp. Methodologically, Khasnabish's admirable efforts
towards a horizontal and less objectifying research strategy via work with "research partners" seems to fall back
on the standard uses of oral testimony and ethnographic observation common to field research, suggesting that
the object of study and research strategy did not result from collaboration.
Khasnabish has undertaken a bold and complex project. It is never easy to evaluate a political movement, much
less the ethos that animates it. Overall, Zapatismo Beyond Borders more than successfully introduces readers to
the complexity of a dynamic and compelling political project.
Manuel Callahan is professor of ethnic studies, Humboldt State University. He is the editor of Zapatismo as Critical
Cultural and Political Practice, a special issue of the Humboldt State University Journal of Social Relations (2005).
Credit: Manuel Callahan

DETAILS

Subject: Colleges &universities

Publication title: The Times Higher Education Supplement : THE; London

Issue: 1892

First page: 52

Publication year: 2009

Publication date: Apr 16, 2009

Section: Books

Publisher: TES Global Limited

Place of publication: London

Country of publication: United Kingdom, London

Publication subject: Education--Higher Education

ISSN: 00493929

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 Source type: Trade Journals

Language of publication: Englis h

Document type: Book Review

ProQuest document ID: 761060473

Document URL: https://gold.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/76106047

3?accountid=11149

Copyright: Copyright TSL Education Ltd. Apr 16, 2009

Last updated: 2011-06-04

Database: European Newsstream,Social Science Premium Collection,International Newsstream

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