Expanding Autonomy -A qualitative case study on the EZLN and the expansion of autonomous communities in 2019 - Viktor Göranson Uppsala University, Department of Government Bachelor Thesis Development Studies C Autumn 2019 Supervisor: Anders Sjögren Word Count: 11 714 Page Count: 35 2020-04-16 ABSTRACT In August 2019 the indigenous social movement Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), decided to deepen their autonomy project and thereby to intensify their conflict with the Mexican state. The group that emerged in 1994 has for almost three decades been in conflict with the Mexican government. In the last decade, the conflict has been on hold until the group announced their expansion with 11 new autonomous zones in the south of the county. This thesis puts that decision in a political opportunity structure framework; what aspects of the framework can explain the unexpected decision by the movement? A qualitative text analysis of EZLN communique's finds that the movement took advantages of several political opportunities. Most significantly, the construction of the Mayan Train constituted reasons for adopting a confrontational strategy towards the government. Changes in the level of repression towards the movement have facilitated the confrontative decision made by the movement. When controlling for two alternative explanation theories, this study establishes the political opportunity structure as having a stronger explanation factor. This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on political opportunity framework and to revitalize the interest in the EZLN. 2 TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 4 2. RESEARCH QUESTION .................................................................................................................. 5 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & PREVIOUS RESEARCH ........................................................ 6 3.1 Social movements ......................................................................................................................... 6 3.2 Political opportunity structure ..................................................................................................... 6 3.2.1 The four aspects of political opportunity structure .................................................................... 7 3.2.2 Questions to the material ........................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Previous research ....................................................................................................................... 10 4. RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Case study .................................................................................................................................. 11 4.2 Limitations.................................................................................................................................. 12 4.3 Material & Time period.............................................................................................................. 13 4.4 Strategies for analysing the data ................................................................................................ 14 4.5 Operationalisation...................................................................................................................... 16 5. BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................................. 17 6. ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 19 6.1 Openness or closure to new actors ............................................................................................. 19 6.2 Stability or instability of political alignments ............................................................................. 21 6.3 Influential allies or supporters ................................................................................................... 23 6.4 Changes in repression or facilitation ......................................................................................... 25 7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 29 8. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 31 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 35 3 1. INTRODUCTION Mexico has the largest indigenous population in Latin America, 21.5 % of Mexicans live in indigenous households (IWGIA, 2019). Historically, this group has been excluded from influence in Mexican politics. Ever since the Spaniards colonized the area that is today the United States of Mexico, indigenous people have organized themselves in groups to get influence in politics. One of the most significant of those groups, and also the most recent, is the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) from the southern state of Chiapas. Ever since their emergence in 1994, the EZLN has been in opposition to the government, claiming that the Mexican state is violating indigenous rights (MRG, 2020). In the last two decades, this group has established autonomous zones in the south of Mexico, talking the question of political representation into their own hands. On the 17th of August 2019, the EZLN released a communiqué stating that the organisation would expand its autonomous communities in the state of Chiapas (EZLN, 2019a). The movement that emerged as a peasant revolutionary movement has in the last decade adopted an increasingly left-wing, anti-capitalism, rhetoric (Máiz, 2010). In addition to the 32 communities that were already established, the decision to expand meant 11 new autonomous zones. Seven of these new zones were Caracoles (Spanish for conch snails), functioning as regional capitals. Now, there were 43 self-proclaimed autonomous Zapatista zones in the south of Mexico. This decision constitutes the movement´s first major decision regarding the question of autonomy since they first established their communities in 2003. Why is it that the EZLN is doing this right know when Mexico for the first time in history has a president that is elected on a leftist agenda, a president that claims to be representing the marginalized people in Mexican society? The movement that declared war against the state in 1994 seeks new ways to get influence in contemporary Mexico. Twenty-six years after their rebellion, the EZLN manifests its resistance to president Andrés Manuel López Obrador´s (ubiquitously known as AMLO) administration. At the same time, the government seems to prefer to ignore the movement. The EZLN has over the years drawn significant interest from scholars on social movements. The literature on the movement has over the year covered several aspects; the circumstances that triggered its emergence (Muñoz, 2006), its change in political discourse (Máiz, 2010), its role in the democratization of Mexico (Mattiace, 2012), its role as an indigenous movement (Saldaña-Portillo, 2003), the failure surrounding the peace negotiation with the government (Mattiace, 2003) and the phase when the EZLN first established their autonomous zones 4 (Inclán, 2008; Stahler-Sholk, 2007). Recently, however, the group has not enjoyed as much attention from scholars as the first ten years since their rebellion in 1994. This thesis puts the decision by EZLN to expand its territory in a social movement context, more specifically: a political opportunity structure, framework and applies analytical tools to identify the reasons behind the decision. By conducting a qualitative text-analysis of official communiqués from the EZLN, this study hopes to deepen the understanding of the decision made by the movement. The decision by EZLN is analysed as a consciously chosen strategy to take advantage of the political opportunity that surrounds them. The purpose of this in-depth case study is twofold. It hopes to contribute to the literature on social movement and political opportunities. Through the application of the framework on contemporary movements and their behaviour, the theory keeps its relevance as a tool for understanding social movements. Additionally, this study hopes to revitalize the interest in the Zapatista movement. Although they have lost the publicity the group had in the 90s, their struggle is as active as ever, and the story of the Zapatistas is a story about challenges in contemporary Mexico. This paper is outlined accordingly: First, the research question is presented, then the key concepts will be elaborated upon and previous research made on the EZLN will be presented in the theoretical framework & previous research section. Next follows a description of how this study approaches the material in the research design section. A background section precedes the analysis to offer a historical background for the reader. The analysis is divided into four parts, each for every political opportunity structure aspect that