Ideological Pluralism and Political Process in Zinacantán Kristen Adler
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Anthropology ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-1-2011 Making Modernity: Ideological Pluralism and Political Process in Zinacantán Kristen Adler Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/anth_etds Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Adler, Kristen. "Making Modernity: Ideological Pluralism and Political Process in Zinacantán." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/anth_etds/2 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii Acknowledgements I would first like to express my gratitude to the people in Chiapas who welcomed me into their homes and their lives, and guided me through this research. In Oventik, the instructors at the language center provided me with invaluable support. They shared their knowledge and insights not only with regards to learning Tsotsil but also important issues regarding history and politics. I would also like to thank the members of the Junta de Buen Gobierno. Although in the end they were not able to grant me permission for research, they were always gracious and considerate. In Zinacantán there were many people who offered their support and assistance. I would first like to thank Alejandra Lopez Perez for her unending friendship. She, along with her aunt and grandmother, are three of the most caring women I have ever met. Many thanks to the women at the museum, including Maria Cristina Hernandez Gonzalez, Maria Perez Arias, Petrona Perez Arias, Catalina Lopez Montejo, and especially Juana Gomez Perez, for her interest in and support of my research. Thanks to Lucia Gomez Lopez, for spending hours on end helping me with transcriptions and for providing valuable insights into my work; Arturo Enrique Cruz Vazquez, for sharing his family’s history; Juan Crisostomo Lopez Martinez, Segundo Regidor, for taking a special interest in my work and offering his thoughts on the political activities in Zinacantán; Cristobal Gomez Hernandez, Tercer Regidor Suplente, for his kindness and inspiring conversations; Antonio de la Torre and Angelina Suyul Diaz Ruiz, for their excellent work iii on transcriptions and translations; and finally, the Vazquez Hernandez family, for so graciously allowing me to live with them. Back in the United States, I have benefited from the support and guidance of a number of incredible mentors. First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee members at the University of New Mexico, Dr. David Dinwoodie (Chair), Dr. Carole Nagengast and Dr. Suzanne Oakdale, as well as Dr. John Haviland at the University of California, San Diego, not only for the countless hours they have devoted to me and my work, but also for continuing to challenge me intellectually. I would also like to thank Dr. Alan Gilbert at the University of Denver, for opening new avenues of political thought, and Dr. Norberto Valdez at Colorado State University, for inspiring in me a heightened political and social awareness and for setting me on the path to Chiapas. I have been fortunate enough to receive funding from a range of sources, during various phases of my research. These include: Foreign Language and Area Studies, Title VI Grant, Latin American and Iberian Institute, University of New Mexico, which allowed me to study Tsotsil prior to beginning fieldwork; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship and a grant from the Jacobs Research Fund, Whatcom Museum Society, which funded a year of fieldwork; a Student Research Allocations Committee Travel Grant, Graduate and Professional Student Association, University of New Mexico and a Research, Project and Travel Grant, Office of Graduate Studies, University of New Mexico, which allowed me to return to Chiapas for follow-up research; and a PhD Fellowship, Latin American and Iberian Institute, University of New Mexico, which provided financial support during the write-up of my dissertation. iv Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family. To my fellow grad students, Olga Glinskii, Jen Cardinal, Jara Carington and Ilse Biel, thanks for your friendship and collegiality; and to Kristin Fitzgerald, for the many, many inspiring conversations and your invaluable comments on various drafts. To my parents, Bill and Janlyn Adler, thank you for your continuous support and encouragement, and my brother, Jesse Adler, for sharing in and reaffirming my desire to make a difference. I am grateful and proud to call you my family. Lastly, to my husband Dan Cummings, who accompanied me in the field and whose photographss compliment this dissertation, thank you for sharing in all of the setbacks, as well as the triumphs. v vi MAKING MODERNITY: IDEOLOGICAL PLURALISM AND POLITICAL PROCESS IN ZINACANTÁN by Kristen Adler B.A. ANTHROPOLOGY, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, 1998 M.A. ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, 2001 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, 2011 This dissertation examines political process and ideology in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, focusing on the Tsotsil-speaking community of Zinacantán. The complex interplay between constructions of tradition and modernity clearly indicates that Zinacantán is not the isolated, “closed corporate community” often portrayed in the anthropological literature. Rather, complexities that emerge from local narratives suggest profound ideological pluralism, e.g., liberal individualism alongside hierarchical complementarity. Through a focus on narrative and event, this work challenges received notions of tradition and modernity and demonstrates the diverse ways in which Zinacantecos are traditionalizing the modern and modernizing the traditional through reflexive communicative means. Although this research focuses on Zinacantán, it also takes into consideration the influences of the Zapatista movement, the “indigenization” of the nearby ladino town of San Cristóbal and broad patterns of shifting political ideologies. As such, this work is in dialogue with and contributes new perspectives to current debates pertaining to neoliberalism and globalization, particularly by problematizing theories that view globalization as homogenizing. vii Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................... x Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Part One: Frameworks .............................................................................................. 31 Chapter 1 Approaching Ethnography in Zinacantán ................................................... 32 Chapter 2 Political Economic Plurality ........................................................................ 60 Interlude – Juana ........................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 3 Theorizing the Political: Typologies vs. Events and Ideologies .................. 83 Interlude – Maria Cristina ........................................................................................... 112 Chapter 4 Structures and Perspectives of Zinacanteco Politics................................ 115 Interlude – Alejandra .................................................................................................. 139 Part Two: Events .................................................................................................... 142 Chapter 5 Calderón’s Visit: The Politics of Indigenous Recognition ......................... 143 Interlude – Maria Cristina ........................................................................................... 166 Chapter 6 The Women Who Threw Rocks: Official and Unofficial Politics .............. 168 Part Three: Narratives ............................................................................................ 192 Chapter 7 Signaling Political Ideologies .................................................................... 193 Interlude – Juana ......................................................................................................... 231 Chapter 8 Political Ideologies in Personal Narrative ................................................. 234 Interlude – Alejandra .................................................................................................. 277 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 279 References ............................................................................................................. 283 viii Figure 1: View of Zinacantán from Santa Cecilia mountain / Sisil Vits (Photos by Dan Cummings, unless otherwise noted) ix Preface When I arrived in Zinacantán to request permission for research, I stopped first at the tourist booth to ask the location of the municipal offices. Although I had previously visited the community with my language instructor, I was not sure I remembered the location of the offices. A young woman at the tourist booth pointed out the building and stood to accompany me. As we walked across the church courtyard she asked, “Está paseando? / Are you just having a look around?” (an indirect way of asking, ‘What are you doing here?’). I explained that I was studying anthropology and wanted to ask permission to do research