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Differentiation, Radicalization, and the Emergence of the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas
Author(s) -
Collier George A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
polar: political and legal anthropology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1555-2934
pISSN - 1081-6976
DOI - 10.1525/pol.1998.21.2.111
Subject(s) - radicalization , opposition (politics) , indigenous , politics , political economy , negotiation , political science , population , ethnic group , government (linguistics) , development economics , sociology , law , economics , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , demography , biology
Over three decades, southeastern Mexico has experienced social and economic changes that restructured agriculture, exacerbated class divisions, and increasingly politicized ethnic relations in a region with a large indigenous population. The Zapatista rebellion of 1994 both reflected these processes and sharpened the economic, social, and political divisions growing out of them. It also refocused opposition to the political structures through which privileged elites, from the national government down to local officials, have controlled the region's resources and maintained order. As negotiations continue between the Zapatistas and the national government, the future is uncertain. Yet a lasting peace will have to accommodate the region's recent transformations of social structure.