(Un)Masking Neozapatismo: A multi-sited ethnography of The Other Campaign

This thesis is an examination into how nationalism continues to be an important source of identification and solidarity for people participating in alter-globalisation movements. Based on ethnographic research throughout the Zapatista Other Campaign, this thesis looks at the process of building Zapatista solidarity. This research thus follows Zapatismo, looking at how nationalism is a way of talking and of thinking about belonging in ways that develop ‘real’ material structures of solidarity and recognition. It explores what happens to ‘the national’ in the consolidation of ‘neozapatismo’ – a social and political project imagined as an alternative to neoliberal globalisation. Much of the academic literature on alter-globalisation lacks a critical engagement with questions of nationalism and national identity preferring instead to focus on global connections, and how these produce new, radical and innovative social imaginings. By radicalising notions of ‘democracy, justice and liberty’ the Zapatistas are seen to exemplify the possibility of radical politics in their practice of autonomy. Through research carried out in multiple sites across Mexico, Los Angeles and New York City, this thesis looks at how autonomy is lived and experienced in the everyday. It explores some of the different discourses of and about the Zapatistas that have emerged, looking to understand some of the ways in which neozapatismo is mediated, identifying two key players: Subcomandante Marcos and ‘alternative’ media. This thesis addresses questions of how to re-think ‘the national’ in imaginings of alternative forms of globalisation that can translate into social and political action.