The Zapatista experience : an example of anti-globalization society
What is it ? Who are the zapatistas ?
The Zapatista society is a group of municipalities (divided into five zones) located in the territories of Chiapas in Mexico which the particularity is to be completely autonomous from the Mexican government since the 90s.
They obtained this independence thanks to the fight of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (the EZLN), a group of native and revolutionaries insurgents. What is very interesting is that the zapatistas have developed their own organization: their own political system, justice sytem, their own educational model, health model and their own economic model which are widely anti-globalization and based on solidarity. Today many people agree to say that it’s the most concrete alternative to capitalism that exist.
In what way can we say that the Zapatista society is a concrete alternative in front of current globalization ?
The running of the zapatista community
In politics : « The people decide and the government obeys”
The zapatistas have set up a radical democracy that demonstrates the people can be the governement and have the lead. Each municipality elects several representatives for three years. These representatives are ordinary citizens. They have no remuneration, no material advantages and can be revoked at any time. Their function is to go to the "Council of good government" of their living zone where ideas & decisions are discussed and voted. Every three weeks a new representative takes over from the previews one. The former representative informs the following one of files in progress and goes back home to his normal life: to take care of his lands, his family… There are back and forth discussions between each representative and the people. Thanks to that, the opinion of each people is well taken into account. Small precision valid in all areas: the Zapatistas are very careful to respect the equality between man and woman.
Regarding education
The Zapatistas put in place schools and their own school programme. The teachers, called " promotores de educacion " like for the political representatives are not paid. But the community covers their material needs.
There is also a university "the university of the earth" : a learning center and a training center. The courses are open for everyone and free. There is no diploma at the end, it belongs to each to decide when he knows about it enough. At the university of the earth you can participate at practical working group of computing, agroecology, writing … or discuss on political, economic, social questions around texts or books.
Economics
You must to know that the Zapatistas are mainly poor farmers because of the liberalization of the agriculture in Mexico. People suffer from malnutrition have no access to tap water, to electricity.
The Zapatista society has allowed the small producers to be better organized and to live decently on their work thanks to the implementation of a social and solidarity economy. For example :
- There are cooperatives where woman and men help each other and work together (: for example by holding a shop alternately once a week).
- An autonomous market exist
- There is a loan system with very low rate of interest in certain zones
Thanks to that, the producers have been able to increase their prices : for example the price of coffee has increased by 50% thanks to a cooperative. The benefits are used to improve the living conditions and to finance projects like the access to internet.
To go further
Today, even if this society is still « poor », the system seems to work and the Zapatistas are supported & inspire a lot of artists (like Manu Chao, Keny Arkana), anti-globalization associations (ATTAC) and intellectuals like Jérôme Bashet. Jérome Bashet is a writer and a historian who has studied and lived in the Zapatista society. Today, he is a professor at the university of the earth. In his book "Goodbye in capitalism” he extends the reflection on this society and imagines a real utopia. He imagines an anti-productivist and a non-market society based on despecialisation.
Here are some of his main ideas in particular on the economic plan for another social logic of the economy in the continuity of the Zapatista society..
First, according to him, it would be necessary to eliminate the current domains of production which only support the logic of the market. For example the publicity and the marketing , the production of biotechnology (GMO)(Genetically Modified Organism), the productivist agriculture. With one things and another it will cause the suppression of other goods: for example the suppression of the publicity could provoke a reduction of the production of paper and thus a reduction of the deforestation and of the production of chemicals materials, etc. Jerome Bashet call that “The reduction effect” (in French "l’effet démultiplicateur")
It would also be necessary to eliminate absurd detours of production of the capitalist economy : water from the Alps to Mexico, Chinese garlic in Europe
Then, we will have to choose collectively which goods to produce taking into consideration : the ecological impact of every production and the collective profit expected from every good or service compared with the workload constraints.
According to JB, if productive activity was distributed in an equal way between everybody, each one should work from 12 to 16 hours a week. It would be necessary to add to these productive tasks, : from 10 to 12 hours a week. Over all each should work from 22 to 28 hours a week that is to say 4 hours of work per day. The purpose is that each person has the , and the opportunity to learn about what she wants.
This leads us to the idea of despecialisation : Each should be able to exercise several jobs during his life with no more big division of work, no more hierarchical divisions for example between the manual and intellectual activities.
To conclude
What the zapatistas have implemented show us that it is possible to live in a completely different society even if a radical change of mentalities would be necessary.
What do you think about that ? About the Zapatista society ?
What can we learn from the zapatist experience ?
Do you think that a radical change of our society is necessary ? Is that even possible ?