A Beginner's Guide to Building Better Worlds : Ideas and Inspiration from the Zapatistas

This ambitious book offers radical alternatives to conventional ways of thinking about the planet’s most pressing challenges, ranging from alienation and exploitation to state violence and environmental ruin. The book introduces readers to the Zapatistas, an autonomous social movement comprised of rebel Indigenous communities, who arguably represent one of the world’s foremost examples of revolutionary struggle and what it means to rage against the colonial-capitalist machine for freedom, justice and democracy. Bridging real-world examples of resistance, mutual aid, food sovereignty, self-determination and holistic approaches to health with big-picture concepts such as critical consciousness, social reproduction, alternative economies and decolonisation, the authors encourage readers to view themselves as co-creators of the societies they are part of, by ‘being Zapatistas wherever they are’. The book also aspires to unsettle mainstream education’s neoliberal status quo by arming readers with crucial insights about the merits of political education, praxis, solidarity and collective action, all of which are necessary towards challenging institutionalised authority, confronting taken-for-granted systems of power and changing realities. Written by a diverse intercontinental team of first-generation graduates, the book ultimately offers readers an emancipatory set of anti-colonial ideas related to both refusing liberal bystanding and collectively constructing better worlds. Front Cover A Beginner's Guide to building Better Worlds: Ideas and Inspiration from the Zapatistas Copyright information Dedication Table of contents List of figures Guilty parties (who agree that lead authorship, must it be ascribed or exist, is shared and interchangeable) Introduction: from liberal bystanding to emancipatory praxis Part I: Political education as historical necessity Surviving society and the present moment Liberal bystanding versus radical (collective) action The costs and consequences of liberal bystanding Part II: Positionality and the politics/responsibilities of writing Our aims, motivation and (dare we say it!) agenda Structure, organisation and a word of caution 2 A world where many worlds fit A ‘¡Ya basta!’ heard around the world Phases of the Zapatista resistance Autonomy in the face of the hydra and colossus Zapatismo: ‘everything for everyone, nothing for us’ Emancipatory politics, actually existing democracy Principles, ethics and poetics ‘from below’ ‘Preguntando caminamos’ (‘asking, we walk’) ‘Para todos todo, para nosotros nada’ (‘everything for everyone, nothing for us’) ‘Mandar obedeciendo’ (‘to lead by obeying’) ‘Lento, pero avanzo’ (‘slowly, but advancing’) 3 The coloniser’s model/neoliberal state of the world Neoliberalism: a brief definition Oblivion, Babylon and an economy of contempt Discourse, power, knowledge Global health under neoliberalism Biopower and discipline Death by a thousand cuts 4 Modernity-coloniality and Indigenous realities Indigenous struggle as knowledge production Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality A genealogy of modernity-coloniality Modernity’s advance, enclosure and dark side The Zapatista struggle 5 Dispossession, extractivism and violence Land grabbing and environmental defence On the front lines: land defenders and water protectors Marginalisation and exclusion Criminalisation and stigma Militarisation and intimidation Are alternative futures possible? What might alternatives look like? Radical hope via ‘asking, we walk’ 6 Critical consciousness and praxis Colonialism and race Nationalism and the state Divide and conquer/rule/exploit Cheap shots and sucker punches Banking model education Feminist ethics and dissent 7 Political education and radical pedagogy A fire in the master’s house is set Who must ask for pardon? Autonomous (rebel) education Organising political education Bending discourse, being ‘otherly’ Non-hierarchical decolonial learning Land- and place-based education A capacity for discernment ‘Asking, we walk’ (and resist) Get free, whatever your calendar or geography 8 Gender justice and social reproduction The (ongoing) colonial state of things Social reproduction as ‘point zero’ Peasant woman’s burden: reproducing everyday life Prelude to an uprising Zapatista women’s realities Women’s Revolutionary Law Outcomes and critiques of Women’s Revolutionary Law Together and side by side Other (life-giving) worlds 9 Health, food sovereignty, solidarity economies Autonomous health, care and wellbeing Being well outside of colonial-capitalist logics Building a politics of health Integrated health knowledges Centring dignity and care The corporate food regime Food sovereignty and agroecology Collective work, decommoditising nature Solidarity economies: from degrowth to pluralism 10 A battle for the soul of education The problems, challenges and individualism at hand The solution: building better worlds, realities and relations Notes References Index Back Cover This ambitious book offers radical alternatives to conventional ways of thinking about the planet’s most pressing challenges, ranging from alienation and exploitation to state violence and environmental injustice. Bridging real-world examples of resistance and mutual aid in Zapatista territory with big-picture concepts like critical consciousness, social reproduction and decolonisation, the authors encourage readers to view themselves as co-creators of the societies they are a part of - and ‘be Zapatistas wherever they are'. Written by a diverse team of first-generation authors, this book offers an emancipatory set of anti-colonial ideas related to both refusing liberal bystanding and collectively constructing better worlds and realities.This ambitious book offers radical alternatives to conventional ways of thinking about the planet’s most pressing challenges, ranging from alienation and exploitation to state violence and environmental injustice. Bridging real-world examples of resistance and mutual aid in Zapatista territory with big-picture concepts like critical consciousness, social reproduction and decolonisation, the authors encourage readers to view themselves as co-creators of the societies they are a part of - and ‘be Zapatistas wherever they are'. Written by a diverse team of first-generation authors, this book offers an emancipatory set of anti-colonial ideas related to both refusing liberal bystanding and collectively constructing better worlds and realities

This ambitious book offers radical alternatives to conventional ways of thinking about the planet's most pressing challenges, ranging from alienation and exploitation to state violence and environmental injustice. Bridging real-world examples of resistance and mutual aid in Zapatista territory with big-picture concepts like critical consciousness, social reproduction and decolonisation, the authors encourage readers to view themselves as co-creators of the societies they are a part of – and 'be Zapatistas wherever they are'. Written by a diverse team of first-generation authors, this book offers an emancipatory set of anti-colonial ideas related to both refusing liberal bystanding and collectively constructing better worlds and realities.

Written by an international team of authors, this ambitious volume offers radical alternatives to staid ways of thinking on the most crucial global challenges of our times. Bridging real examples of political agency, collective action and mutual aid with big-picture concepts, the book encourages readers to 'be a Zapatista', wherever they are.