This paper will analyse how the Zapatista Movement can be understood and framed in terms of anarchist discourses. The Zapatistas have developed an alternative approach to the Western conception of...Show moreThis paper will analyse how the Zapatista Movement can be understood and framed in terms of anarchist discourses. The Zapatistas have developed an alternative approach to the Western conception of autonomy, self-organization, and development while sharing substantial characteristics with anarchist practices and praxis. Using Gordon’s framework and Critical Discourse Analysis when analysing three different primary sources published by the movement, it is possible to argue that the Zapatistas are trying to develop their own unique way in order to free themselves from the international and national systems that perpetuate oppression and exploitation. In a Western perspective, the Zapatistas could be called ‘leftists’ or even ‘anarchists’, as they provide an alternative that is most aligned with our way of comprehending, experiencing, and engaging with anarchism and radical political ideologies and theories. However, the movement does not establish itself as openly ‘anarchist’, but it is seeking to create a new way of organizing politics, economics, and society that is not aligned with the hegemonic neoliberal system. In the Zapatistas’ rhetoric we see a mix of different ideas, goals, and values that can be aligned both with participatory development practices, post-development or what we call ‘anarchism’, making the movement to be perceived almost as non-ideological or even anti-ideological.Show less
