The disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students is exemplary of Mexico’s crisis, which is rooted in fundamental, global contradictions of capitalism outlined by David Harvey. In this article, I respond to the Zapatistas’ suggestion to see capitalism as the many-headed Hydra, which I use to argue that capitalism is war. Mexico’s war on drugs provides a historical explanation of how this has come to be, as it was the end of a period of class compromise and expanded reproduction, transitioning towards the fusion of government, military, and licit and illicit business in pursuit of accumulation by dispossession. Clearance and re-ordering of territory and hyperexploitation through terror are the ways the war on drugs achieves this. In these ways the apparent failure of the war on drugs has been a success for accumulation by dispossession. I conclude by arguing that Zapatista autonomy is a strategic inspiration for how to respond to capitalism as war by building freedom.
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Zapatismo and beyond: Towards a theory of autonomy and its practice in North America
Presented on June 1, 2017 at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-Operation, “New Cooperativism” Stream Abstract Debates on the left, especially debates on autonomy, all too often resemble a theoretical boxing match between opposing positions. Lost in the melee is a strategic focus on what is to be done toContinue reading “Zapatismo and beyond: Towards a theory of autonomy and its practice in North America”
Indigenous Ways of Knowing for Non-Indigenous Allies
final paper for a class on indigenous ways of knowing2016 Personal Context I grew up in the US state of Indiana, on land belonging to the Miami Nation, an Algonquin people who have continued to resist the dispossession of their land, including through forced removal to the state of Oklahoma between 1846 and 1871. ObliviousContinue reading “Indigenous Ways of Knowing for Non-Indigenous Allies”
Walking the caracol: Towards a methodology of everyday life
final paper for a Cultural Studies class on the everyday2015 Murals abound in the Zapatista caracol of Oventic. The caracoles (literally, conch shell or spiral) are centres of autonomous government for the surrounding indigenous, peasant Zapatista communities. Their one-storey wooden structures are home to womens’ artisanal cooperatives, assembly spaces, offices of the municipal and regionalContinue reading “Walking the caracol: Towards a methodology of everyday life”
Social relations and social movement theory
a Comprehensive paper for my doctoral program in Environmental Studies2018 In the years since they seized over five hundred plantations on January 1, 1994 the Zapatistas have built a wide-ranging autonomous project, including founding a school in each of hundreds of communities. In these schools curriculum developed collectively by Zapatista communities is taught by ZapatistaContinue reading “Social relations and social movement theory”
Autonomy, alienation, and life beyond capitalism
Written as a Comprehensive paper for my doctoral program in Environmental Studies2018 Autonomy gets a lot of grief from the rest of the left. For many it is little more than a mis-guided slogan to “change the world without taking power” (Holloway, 2002). Autonomy is lambasted as both abandoning structural change for puny, small-scale actionsContinue reading “Autonomy, alienation, and life beyond capitalism”
Resistance and rebellion, according to the Zapatistas
Notes on Critical thought in the face of the capitalist hydra2016 Below is an attempt at summarizing material concerning resistance and rebellion that I pulled together from various passages throughout the book. I admit I’ve also editorialized a wee bit. Rebellion and resistance – a collective No! and Yes! To rebel – to stand upContinue reading “Resistance and rebellion, according to the Zapatistas”
Stuart Schussler 