Much of the Zapatista ‘success’ narrative has been coasting on the fact that there was enough protest over the place being shot up in the early 2000s that the Mexican government stopped trying to send troops there. Since, there’s been very little improvement in their situation (relative to the rest of Mexico, mind) despite massive amounts of outside aid being poured in for local, supposedly sustainable, projects; including large amounts of aid from the Mexican government. The younger generation has largely abandoned the movement because the place is under crushing poverty and political infighting has hamstrung their ability to utilize the aid they get. The localties that pledge their allegiance to the Zapatista cause generally have an only skin-deep connection to the ideology, mired in oppressive traditions and the power of each village’s elites, who generally have a clientistic relationship with the Zapatistas and change sides whenever the government or the Zapatistas offer them more. And recently they all but dissolved their main organizational body because, for all of their military posturing, they were incapable of fending off drug lords who moved into the area (unsurprising, considering that the local loyalty to the Zapatista cause is shaky at best). Their response? To blame the Mexican army for not fighting them off.
They have an amazing PR arm for outreach to other leftists internationally. But it’s just a PR arm.
I don’t know about Rojava’s long-term prospects, (and considering how long the Syrian Civil War has gone on, I’d be a fool to try to prognosticate) but they’ve done good work in restoring educational capacity and creating a seemingly stable left-wing organization in the middle of a very brutal civil war. They transitioned from an ethnic-based org to an extremely pluralistic org with remarkable speed and efficiency, and their militia forces have been very effective in defending their territory from both other rebels (and terrorists), and state forces. The local economy is thriving with the system of cooperatives and local councils, and corruption is noticeably less than in surrounding areas.
Gods only know how it’ll end, though. I have concerns about what happens when the Syrian state recovers (or is replaced). Plus, Turkiye won’t stand for it if they don’t have to, Iranian proxies in Iraq are unlikely to look fondly on Rojava, and the US support for Kurds is tepid at best and prone to sudden drawbacks for domestic or international political concerns. That’s a hell of a position to be in.
Just wanted to be clear, nitpicking their praxis from the comfort of my couch isn’t a denigration of their work. Rojava is doing something amazing. They’ve managed to make a relative utopia out of a horrible situation and they’ve advanced the cause greatly in their efforts. I have nothing but respect and admiration for their struggle.
I had no idea things were shaping up so poorly for the zapatistas. Hopefully they get their shit together, it’d be a shame for their legacy to be so underwhelming. I’m gonna have to look into all that a bit more. Got any recommendations?
This is one of the first critical pieces I read back when I first started researching them. Unfortunately I can’t find any free scholarly articles that look familiar/trigger the old memory muscle, and I’m not quite in the mood to read dozens of articles in a search query looking for one that doesn’t say “Zapatista” once and then 29 pages of unrelated stuff on populist movements.
Much of the Zapatista ‘success’ narrative has been coasting on the fact that there was enough protest over the place being shot up in the early 2000s that the Mexican government stopped trying to send troops there. Since, there’s been very little improvement in their situation (relative to the rest of Mexico, mind) despite massive amounts of outside aid being poured in for local, supposedly sustainable, projects; including large amounts of aid from the Mexican government. The younger generation has largely abandoned the movement because the place is under crushing poverty and political infighting has hamstrung their ability to utilize the aid they get. The localties that pledge their allegiance to the Zapatista cause generally have an only skin-deep connection to the ideology, mired in oppressive traditions and the power of each village’s elites, who generally have a clientistic relationship with the Zapatistas and change sides whenever the government or the Zapatistas offer them more. And recently they all but dissolved their main organizational body because, for all of their military posturing, they were incapable of fending off drug lords who moved into the area (unsurprising, considering that the local loyalty to the Zapatista cause is shaky at best). Their response? To blame the Mexican army for not fighting them off.
They have an amazing PR arm for outreach to other leftists internationally. But it’s just a PR arm.
I don’t know about Rojava’s long-term prospects, (and considering how long the Syrian Civil War has gone on, I’d be a fool to try to prognosticate) but they’ve done good work in restoring educational capacity and creating a seemingly stable left-wing organization in the middle of a very brutal civil war. They transitioned from an ethnic-based org to an extremely pluralistic org with remarkable speed and efficiency, and their militia forces have been very effective in defending their territory from both other rebels (and terrorists), and state forces. The local economy is thriving with the system of cooperatives and local councils, and corruption is noticeably less than in surrounding areas.
Gods only know how it’ll end, though. I have concerns about what happens when the Syrian state recovers (or is replaced). Plus, Turkiye won’t stand for it if they don’t have to, Iranian proxies in Iraq are unlikely to look fondly on Rojava, and the US support for Kurds is tepid at best and prone to sudden drawbacks for domestic or international political concerns. That’s a hell of a position to be in.
Just wanted to be clear, nitpicking their praxis from the comfort of my couch isn’t a denigration of their work. Rojava is doing something amazing. They’ve managed to make a relative utopia out of a horrible situation and they’ve advanced the cause greatly in their efforts. I have nothing but respect and admiration for their struggle.
I had no idea things were shaping up so poorly for the zapatistas. Hopefully they get their shit together, it’d be a shame for their legacy to be so underwhelming. I’m gonna have to look into all that a bit more. Got any recommendations?
Unfortunately, the last time I did a deep dive on the Zapatistas, I was in college, and had access to journals. Let me see what I can dig up now.
No worries if you can’t find anything/don’t the time! I appreciate the conversation nonetheless
This is one of the first critical pieces I read back when I first started researching them. Unfortunately I can’t find any free scholarly articles that look familiar/trigger the old memory muscle, and I’m not quite in the mood to read dozens of articles in a search query looking for one that doesn’t say “Zapatista” once and then 29 pages of unrelated stuff on populist movements.
Fucking JSTOR search, lmao.