Reflecting on the travel seminar, I was most struck by the ways that many individuals and communities that we had met constructed alternatives to the world they see around them, to try and strengthen their communities and worlds in the face of a governmental and economic system that doesn’t always make that easy. Obviously, one of the most extreme examples of alternative practices is the autonomous Zapatista community, whose members have created “another world” in the form of their community spaces. When I think about the Zapatistas, and the thoughtfulness and cohesion that goes into their internal workings, I get excited about the possibility of living life in ways that are completely different from those that may seem possible given the status quo. The autonomy the Zapatistas practice looks to me like a form of alternative living taken so much farther than I’ve ever seen it before, to the point of creating real structures that can be sustained, and that will continue to nourish a group of individuals for as long as they want.
At the same time, though, I have doubts about how much these autonomous alternatives work as resistance to an outside government that remains dysfunctional. I think that we have often equated alternatives with resistance, and it seems to me that there is a spectrum of ways in which resistance works. While the Zapatistas provide a wonderful example of how to function autonomously, they are not necessarily affecting change for those not within their world. Their work, their lives, doesn’t exert pressure for this outward change beyond serving as an example for others. I realize that affecting broad change is not necessarily the goal of the movement, and that the Zapatista community is doing what works for them and creating a model for other communities to create their own sustainable systems that are appropriate for that context. The Zapatistas work in a different way. However, if everybody simply opted out of the government, how would it ever change? That’s what has been on my mind lately.
I think the method that the Zapatistas have taken is incredibly inspiring, especially since their communities and services are so developed. I know that others have been inspired as well, and I believe that many more would be if they saw this “other world. ”While we are lucky enough to have been able to learn more about the Caracol firsthand, it seems a rare experience for outsiders to see in. As Mario at Promedios said, nobody cares about the health clinics or the schools. The broader public wants to hear about conflict. And when the Zapatistas are not rising up in arms, they are not a threat to their government, other than their occupation of space. Promedios is helping spread the message, but obviously the audience is limited.
I’m just not sure if alternatives always automatically equal a form of resistance that will create significant change. There is a big question to be asked about whether the dominant paradigm can shift in big ways, or whether it can happen in small steps by people opting out. I want to recognize what is and is not effective when it comes to acts of resistance. However, I think that the ultimate goal should be strong communities, and it’s not everybody’s responsibility to attack the government or to try and make big-picture change.
I can only truly speculate on the so-called “effectiveness” of this resistance, based off of my observations. But beyond that analysis, I have to say that being in such a thoughtful, autonomous space was incredibly inspiring for me as a sign that people can take what they see as being wrong and begin to make something better, in a countless number of ways. And that in itself is, to me, an act of resistance. There are many ways of challenging the government, challenging the static state of the world. And taking action, showing that “this works too, and this works better,” is one way to do that. I wish that more people could see the work of the Zapatistas firsthand, or at all, and begin to take action as well.
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