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Mayan Community
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This paper discusses the Chiapas Maya response to encroaching globalization and their efforts strategies ...... More...
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Paper Abstract:
This paper discusses the Chiapas Maya response to encroaching globalization and their efforts, strategies and activism in attempting to retain local autonomy and cultural identity as illustrated in June C. Nash’s Mayan Visions. Other groups and strategies in the region are also addressed.
Paper Introduction:
Mayan Community In Mayan Visions The Quest for Autonomy in the Age ofGlobalization anthropologist June C Nash provides an account ofthe Maya people of Chiapas as they struggle to forge a place in the rapidlyemerging global marketplace Within the Mayan drive for cultural autonomy the Zapatista Movement is explored one that shows the wide scope of socialmovements that includes indigenous grassroots national and globalactivism in Chiapas Nash\'s current study of the Maya people is informedby her years spent as an anthropologist in
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The state continues to oppose many responses toglobalization by various activist groups. Nash(2 1) argues the "global ecumene" will now dictate connections of cultureand social exchange, an entity Hannerz defines as "the interconnectednessof the world by way of interactions, exchanges and related development,affecting not least the organization of culture" (p. Ecological Setting The highland Chiapas Nash visited in the 195 s were characterized bysmall-plot cultivators or "campesinos" and "artisans" who viewed their townas the heart of the world and what occurred there "defined their destinyand that of the cosmos" (Nash, 2 1, p. Nash (2 1) tells the story of a delegation of Tzeltales fromOxchuc who danced with a San Cristobal bishop. xvi). Nash (2 1) provides an account ofthe Maya people of Chiapas as they struggle to forge a place in the rapidlyemerging global marketplace. Nash's current study of the Maya people is informedby her years spent as an anthropologist in Chiapas during the 195 s. It continues in various guises that helps unitediverse groups in a collective identity. 214). Nash (2 1) maintains the response of indigenous people toglobalization includes a close connection to Nature that formulates a logicthat is different than that guiding globalization (i.e. Nash (2 1) argues that the agency of various social groups, fromwomen and indigenous peoples to the Maya and EZLN (Ejercito Zapatista deLiberacion Nacional), strives to retain local identity as they framemacroeconomic and political alternatives that offer some measure oflocalized autonomy. Locality has remained extremely important asan aspect of Indian identity and women have been instrumental as activistin this direction against the forces of globalization. Civil-religious interaction and activism is alsoachieved. The dominance of finance capital, Western ideologies of communityand identity, and capitalism have worked against indigenous communities andidentities, often exploiting them while undermining culture and autonomy.As Nash (2 1) maintains, once Chiapas won independence in 1824 the "latentclass contradictions held in check during Spanish colonial hegemony werelet loose, as freedom of commerce and business opened the floodgates ofunrestricted investments and expropriation by elites and foreigners" (p.47). ReferenceNash, J.C. Social Organization Social organization units or groups in the Chiapas Mayan communityabove the household level include grassroots organizations, religiousgroups, and artisan co-ops. 32; 2). Within the Mayan drive for cultural autonomy,the Zapatista Movement is explored; one that shows the wide scope of socialmovements that includes indigenous, grassroots, national, and globalactivism in Chiapas. While the riseof grassroots, indigenous, and Zapatista activism are promising for thesurvival of some degree of Mayan autonomy and control, it is likely theseforces will not be powerful enough to offset the neo-liberal capitalism andpowerful corporations that drive globalization. Efforts were undertaken to help embark on an economicpolicy of "redistribution," which the author maintains was in sharpcontrast to the backward policies of neo-liberalism (Nash, 2 1, pp. These players demand "rationalization" ofeconomic processes and industries, like agriculture, as well as theimplementation of neo-liberal forms of production, pricing, anddistribution that ultimately spell the loss local, cultural, andagriculturally distinct modes of production that reflect the ChiapasMayan's social and economic organization and structure (Nash, 2 1). 221). xv). In Nash's (2 1) view, itis this kind of blending but retention of cultural identity that reflectsthe Chiapas Mayan's strategy of integration with the larger economic sphereof globalization: "The images of the bishop, flittering in the midst of thethirteen men and thirteen women dancing in the cathedral's chapel of theVirgin Purisima, were a vision of how one might settle discordant relationsin a postmodern world" (p. (2 1). Unlike the belief in witchcraft or other forms of mysticism thatguided rebellions from early Mayan cultures, today's Chiapas Mayansdemonstrate through partisan politics and activist groups that includeincreasing participation of women who share equal work duties with men. Mayan visions: The quest for autonomy in the age of globalization. 248). 78-79). xv). 136). The EZLN is oneexample of a group that drives both political and anthropological concernsin a manner that represents the height of modern activism in global world.It is evident that the old mantra of "think globally, act locally" is beingreplaced by "think locally, act globally" in indigenous communities withsuch varied and multiple groups and associations. Shemaintains the Chiapas Maya promote an "ideal of Harmony" and an"environmental ethic" that are founded on "sacred ties to the land" (Nash,2 1, pp. These arming movements and the mobilizationof the campesinos were a reaction to increasing corporate nationalstructures. In doing so she has located Amantenango del Valle, "acommunity that had declared [itself] autonomous, within Chiapas, Mexico andthe global environment" (Nash, 2 1, p. For instance, religious plurality now threatens theunity of indigenous groups and pits religious activism against the drivefor human rights in the Zapatista ideology. The Zapatista response to neo-liberal globalization and theprogram of economic, political, and cultural autonomy sought for ChiapasMayans by the EZLN represent opposition to the dominant forces ofglobalization that typically ride roughshod over and undermine locality,autonomy, and indigenous culture. Mayan farmers, however, havebecome increasingly involved in activism similar to the Bolivian tin minersobserved by Nash in the 197 s. Women are another important group that haveemerged as significant activists in and attempt to exert a distinctidentity and retain autonomy. 41).Despite this, the PRI enjoyed significant control of Chiapas and otherstates, continually encouraging dissent standing for "the nation" (Nash,2 1, p. Major forms ofeconomic interaction with the larger society have included efforts toresist foreign penetration of the Chiapas economy with the Indian communityhelping to "define the national Mexican identity" (Nash, 2 1, p. 173).Instead, responses to forces of modernization/globalization of the ChiapasMayans must be viewed from a broader perspective that avoids anethnocentric interpretation of worldview, culture, economies, or modes ofproduction that globalization foists upon indigenous peoples. Religiouslyinspired activism and a focus on human rights are within the framework ofZapatista ideology, and women have been instrumental in their leadershipwithin communities that embrace the Zapatista worldview. Yet ultimately such economic interaction policies were only apretense at redistribution of wealth, even though PRI programs that werehegemonic were countered by indigenista efforts to retain elements of Mayanculture. This analysis will offer an assessment of the impact ofglobalization on the Chiapas Mayans, focusing on the responses of variousactivist groups and movements. capitalism). The Zapatista revolt onlybrought about heightened government repression; however, it also increasedpolitical activism. The dominant identity forged by these groupsis one of progressive economic development that retains local autonomy andcultural identity. Artisans routinely produce products for theinternational market, but distinctly local culture is conveyed through theexchange of such goods. AsNash (2 1) explains, "The large participation of women in the march toTuxtla Gutierrez to express their grievances was a growing feature of newsocial movements sweeping through the state" (p. Mayan Community In Mayan Visions: The Quest for Autonomy in the Age ofGlobalization, anthropologist June C. New York: Routledge. As Nash (2 1) notes, "The transformation in indigenouscommunity relations with the state from a paternalistic but nonethelessexploitative relationship of dependency to a hostile standoff was ever morepalpable each year" (p. In Nash's (2 1) view, to understand new socialforces and responses to globalization like the EZLN, one must consider thehistory of the macroeconomics and politics of the culture, especially froma Marxian perspective. Yet these groups haveled to survival of indigenous peoples in Chiapas, what the Inter-CommissionTask Force on Indigenous Peoples defined as "those that have maintained acollective identity even within repressive states and have continued tostruggle to preserve control over their territories and self-determinationfor themselves" (Nash, 2 1, p. Afteran interim period in which she produced work on Bolivia, she returned toChiapas and observed and was involved in events before and after the 1994insurrection. Nash believes within the Zapatista movement emerges a form ofindigenous counterplot against the standardizing and homogenizing forces ofglobalization that serve to preserve autonomy and the local, cultural, andagriculturally distinctive methods of production that characterize the Mayaof Chiapas. The MexicanRevolution might be a starting point, in Nash's (2 1) view, for theconcentration of Indian or indigenous identities in the twentieth century.In this way, the response to globalization in modern times is a product ofhistorical change. A conclusion will address the likelysuccess of such responses in achieving and maintaining local autonomy andidentity among the Chiapas Maya. xi). 2 6). To understand how globalization isimpacting this culture, aspects of ecological setting and socialorganization will also be addressed in addition to responses to the forcesof globalization and modernization. In providing an analysis of the social organization of the ChiapasMayans, Nash (2 1) condemns Western ideology from Aristotle to capitalismas homogenizing and standardizing local culture and modes of production aswell as undermining autonomy. However, it is likely the future will see furtherencroachment of the forces and power titans of globalization in Chiapassince, as Nash (2 1) argues, finance capital and monster corporations seemto be the dominant players. During the past few decades,the Chiapas Mayan artisans have expanded their production to include the"international market" that showcases local traditions and provided cashincome to residents (Nash, 2 1, p. This is why she rejects the Western framework for afull understanding of identity of non-Western peoples. Responses to Forces for Modernization/Globalization Because of the significant Western ideology of globalization, Nash(2 1) argues that the Western model of existence, autonomy, and productioncannot be extrapolated onto non-Western and indigenous cultures: "Thefissioning and fusing that took place in indigenous movement...aredifficult, if not impossible, to comprehend in the Aristotelian andCartesian traditions that dominate Western perspectives" (p. Basically the two main responses to neo-liberal globalization can beseen in the Zapatista movement's response to it and the program ofpolitical, economic, and cultural autonomy for the Chiapas Mayans that isthe goal of the EZLN. There is profound significance in therise of the participatory/grassroots movements among the Chiapas Mayans,including the involved and mobilization of women and the rise of Zapatismoin the fight for indigenous rights in the wake of the juggernaut of neo-liberal globalization.
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