My brother is visiting us from Cancun, Mexico and he shared the following really funny video. It really got me to reflect on the complexity of language and perception, as well as the way that music has few borders.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Perception
My brother is visiting us from Cancun, Mexico and he share the following really funny video. It really got me to reflect the complexity of language and perception, as well as the way that music has few borders.
Virtual Zapata, Marketing Indigenismo Through Zapatismo
Introduction
As an anthropologist interested in anti-globalization movements, my original interest in the Chiapas Highland emerged from the Zapatista movement that has aroused international interest since1994. Some would argue that the Zapatistas, or the more common term used for them EZLN (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional) is just another attempt of the Left in Mexico to move towards socialism or even communism. However, the EZLN movement differs from other revolutionary movements in its focus on the maintenance of the indigenous cultural systems, or as 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Octavio Paz said that the EZLN is not simply a postmodernist movement, but one that seeks to mend traditional abuses and injustices against indigenous people and establish an authentic democracy (Paz, 1994). Yet, I would argue that the EZLN movement in their struggle to fight neoliberalism has resorted to marketing images of indigenismo and insurgency by using the internet and other tactics (such as the use of Marcos as an iconic image) and by so doing it has transformed its efforts into a type of internal neocolonialism which has in a way decrease the legitimacy of the movement by posing it as just another marketing icon on the internet. Various renown intellectuals like Octavio Paz, Tom Hayden, Elena Poniatowska, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Carlos Mosivais have argued that what makes the EZLN unique is the poetic beauty of the writings of their spokes person El Sup, nick name for the subcommander Marcos. These poems speak of what the Tzotzil, Tzeltal and all other indigenas of Mexico have been fighting for in the past five hundred years; acknowledgement as indigenous people in the Mexican society, cultural autonomy, respect and dignity, equality of opportunities, sustainable living conditions and the freedom to maintain their culture, and something as simple as a piece of land they can farm for their basic survival. Yet, it has been almost twenty years since the “public birth” of the EZLN and we may ponder on what they have accomplished thus far. How does the EZLN (particularly via Marcos, it’s public face) rhetoric correlate with the ideas being played out by the movement? The EZLN via the internet (and Marcos) has changed from a revolution in the traditional sense, to a marketing of indigeneity (indigenismo) and branding of the image of insurgency, to appeal to a “ready-to-order” form of socialism worldwide. For this project, I decided to explore and follow the Zapatista website titled "Enlace Zapatista" to analyze the type of work the Zapatistas are doing, and to see the way people interact and the views Zapatista followers have about the movement (the website is www.ezln. org.mx).
Literature Review
For many indigenous people in the Americas, capitalism and “the American Dream” have resulted in one of the largest and most destructive effects these lands have ever faced. This destruction included the murder of millions of buffalo only for the eradication of indigenous people, then the thousands, if not millions of Native Americans who were decimated by diseases purposely brought by Europeans (Couturie, 2006). In Culture and Imperialism Edward Said explains the extent of this imperialistic enterprise, “By 1914, the annual rate (of European expansion) had risen to an astonishing 240,000 square miles, and Europe held a grand total of roughly 85 percent of all the earth as colonies, protectorates, dependencies, dominions, and common wealths” (1993:8). The vastness of this European enterprise is not the only concern we must point out, the key factor in this statement centers on the monopoly not just of power but of ideology. Many times when we think of colonialism or its offspring, neocolonialism, we fail to recognize that the physical expression is not as destructive as the ideological one. The ideological involved the internalization of justification of exploitation. In The German Ideology Marx (1976) explains the power of ideology (based on superiority of the West) in the way that ideas justify and promote the economic system as a natural and inevitable operation, a system that produces ideas and continuously justifies them. Through this ideology, the notion of the nation-state was born. The nation-state is a political system that seeks to promote an imaginary homogeneity in a heterogeneous society, and conformance under a monopoly of force used by those in power. Said explains how The cultural horizons of nationalism may be fatally limited by the common history it presumes of colonizer and colonized. Imperialism after all was a cooperative venture, and a salient trait of its modern form is that it was (or claimed to be) an education movement; it set out quite consciously to modernize, develop, instruct, and civilize. The annals of schools, missions, universities, scholarly societies, hospitals in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Europe, and America are filled with this history, which over time established so-called modernizing trends as much as it muted the harsher aspects of imperialist domination. But at its center it preserved the nineteenth-century divide between native and Westerner (1993:223).
Under these conditions we can understand the way that the state normalizes and promotes an internalization of an imperialistic ideology as the price to pay for becoming ‘civilized’ and possibly (though rarely) even part of the bourgeoisie. Throughout the West, capitalism has framed this ideology to justify and rationalize inequalities. One example of an oppressed group is the indigenous Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas, who make the majority of the population of this region (Collier, 1999). The Maya have been battling the oppression imposed on them by those in power, from the Spanish colonizers, to the mestizos or ladino rulers, to modern day neoliberalistic practices through globalization. Chiapas supplies 20 percent of Mexico’s oil and 40 percent of its natural gas, yet despite being so rich in resources, those resources are not available for its citizens. Over 60 percent of the population cooks with firewood, lacks clean drinking water and is chronically malnourished (Conant, 2010:44). These conditions have led to an increase in rebellious movements throughout the state. When interviewed, some Zapatista women in Chiapas expressed: “When your kids are dying of starvation in your arms, you don’t care if you live or die, you are already dead.” The EZLN are part of a key component of Mexico, due the geographic location they occupy, Chiapas. The region of Chiapas is particularly important due to its history of resistance to those in power. Despite the hundreds of years of Spanish colonization, the Maya have remained relatively isolated from the assimilation effects of colonization. The harshness of the environment granted the Maya the protection and production necessary for their physical and cultural autonomy. Where the Spanish colonization decimated the vast majority (over eighty percent) of indigenous people in Mexico, the Maya managed to survive until today, though not without negative effects. The Maya have been relegated to the worst regions in Chiapas and to terrible living conditions, as they have faced the oppression of those in power- the Spanish first, and later the Mexican mestizos, the European bourgeoisie, and later what Fanon called “the new bourgeoisie.” In a way, those Zapatistas that have access to the internet and Marcos, with his ability to speak for the indigenous and the poor, can be seen as new colonizers (through the tools offered by neocolonialism), the Mexican mestizos use the images and ideals promoted by the EZLN to market indigenismo and brand it as part of postmodernism, this is evident throughout the internet sites as well. The use of marketing images of Marcos is a form of conformity to the ideology associated with conquest. The internet is yet another method to homogenize and speak for the subaltern (to use Spivak’s terms). Throughout the website, the voice of the indigenous Maya is not as heard as that of Marcos (based on comments and responses on the site which I will discuss later in this paper).
The Zapatistas
Many may still wonder who the Zapatistas are, and many more erroneously assume that the Zapatistas are a homogenous group of rebels. It is important to outline the different components of Zapatismo . Paco Vazquez of ProMedios, an independent organization in Chiapas explains: “… the voice of the EZLN, the Zapatista military, is not the voice of the indigenous communities that the EZLN exits to defend and protect. It’s easy to forget that we’re talking about two different entities. Related, but different.” (in A Poetics of Resistance, Conant, 2010:46). In this paper, I refer to the Zapatista military, not the indigenous communities. The history of the EZLN is an interesting one, independent from the long history of rebellion of indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas. On November 17, 1983 three mestizos (Mexicans of indigenous and Spanish descent) activists from the National Liberation Forces (FLN) and three indigenous Maya first formed the EZLN or Zapatista National Liberation Army. It is believed that one of these activists was a man who, over the years has been the face of the EZLN and its Spanish voice, Marcos. Many say that the mestizos that joined the movement (including Marcos) were survivors of the student massacre in Tlatelolco (a community in Mexico City) on October 2, 1968. The massacre was a violent attack staged by the Mexican army against a peaceful student protest of the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM one of the top universities in Mexico City), where several students were murdered. Subsequently, activists were forced to carry their operations underground and some fled to the Chiapas’ rainforest. It was in Chiapas, in the Lacandón rainforest that these intellectuals met Maya community leaders and learned their culture and values. This group of intellectuals from Mexico City redefined their struggle to focus on the economic, cultural, and political rights of all the indigenous people of Mexico. It is believed that one of these activists is a former philosophy/sociology professor who now calls himself “Subcomandante Marcos.” Marcos is an important figure for the Zapatistas, though the movement is mainly made up of Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya groups, including the Indigenous Congress by the Diocese of San Cristobal founded in 1974 (Hayden, 2002).
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico triggered the EZLN’s first public or national appearance in 1994, which threatened to worsen the economic conditions of the poor and indigenous populations of Mexico (Hayden, 2002). According to Mexican anthropologists Aida Hernandez and Richard Nigh, Mexico made drastic reforms to agrarian policy in order to prepare for the implementation of NAFTA. This included the abandoning of an 80 year commitment to land reform to benefit small farmers by taking away direct subsidies, credits, and technical assistance, as well as ending direct intervention on marketing structure and price regulation (1998:140). NAFTA supporters in Mexico popularized the ideal that NAFTA would bring modernization to Mexico, though the vehicle of industrial technology. The goal would be to increase productivity and reduce the proportion of the population working in the agricultural sector. In most cases they did not inform the public of the price for this modernization, one being the heavy use of pesticides that led to various diseases and the contamination of the environment (Hernandez & Nigh, 1998:140). The consequences to this destruction on indigenous lifestyles have led to the uprising of various social groups including the Zapatistas. In Mexico, this introduced neoliberalism, a wave of deregulation of governmental laws and free enterprise that benefited corporations at the expense of the poor. Marcos explains some of the effects on Chiapas in the following quote:
Chiapas loses blood through many veins: through oil and gas ducts, electric lines, railways, through bank accounts, trucks, vans, boats and planes, through clandestine paths, gaps and forest trails. This land continues to pay tribute to the imperialists: petroleum, electricity, cattle, money, coffee, banana, honey, corn, cacao, tobacco, sugar, soy, melon, sorghum, mamay, mango, tamarind, avocado, and Chiapaneco blood flows as a result of the thousand teeth sunch into the throat of the Mexican Southeast. (in Poetics of Reistance, Conant, 2010: 64)
Marcos expresses the way that imperialism continues to exploit the indigenous people of Chiapas and pillage their resources. Neoliberalism has led to ecological destruction, agrarian ruin, hyperinflation and social devastation such as alcoholism, prostitution and poverty (Conant, 2010). Marcos’ rhetoric highlights the ideology that has justified this exploitation and social violence. Ideology and its manipulation is key to neoliberalism as it has been to imperialism. Antonio Gramsci’s work explores the connection of politics and ideology when he defines the complexity of hegemony. Hegemony can only exist when the value of the elite is internalized and rationalized by those who are subjugated. “The proletariat can become the leading and dominant class to the extent that it succeeds in creating a system of alliance which allows it to mobilize the majority of the working population against capitalism and the bourgeois State” (Mouffe, 1979:178). To achieve this, the proletarian or in this case the working peasants, the campesinos can achieve this through social consciousness. Social consciousness is what the Zapatistas through Marcos’ communiqués are appealing to. The Zapatistas and Marcos understand that in order to generate real change, they must promote a national ideology based on equality and democracy for the working class. The struggle must be a national or internal struggle.
To achieve this is very complex. The Zapatistas through Marcos must use the tools of the colonist against him in the struggle for liberation (as stated by Frantz Fanon, in The Wretched of the Earth). Yet, by so doing, inevitably the Zapatistas and Marcos are becoming part of neoliberalism and may be inter-neo-colonizing the Maya communities. Fanon, the Martinique-born psychologist inspired generations of revolution through his writings by stating that brutal violence, rather than enlightened civilization or the rule of law, was the defining characteristic of colonialism, thus revolutionary violence was essential for liberation (Conant, 2010: 160). Though Marcos and the EZLN made their appearance through violence, they have denounced violence in favor of rhetoric. Inevitably, violence has followed and flourished in the Chiapas region ever since the Zapatista uprising in 1994. However, Marcos and the EZLN believe that “the poetry of words must, at times, be accompanied by a poetics of action in the form of tactical violence: the liberatory word accompanied by the fire of arms, the fire lending weight and tactical primacy to the word” (Conant, 2010:160). Marcos and the EZLN have used and suggested the use of violence as an alternative method to obtaining democracy, liberty and justice (which is a big component of being a sub commander of an army). Fanon explains the way that violence is sometimes necessary to achieve justice when he states: “Violence alone, perpetrated by the people, violence organized and guided by the leadership, provides the key for the masses to decipher social reality. Without this struggle, without this praxis there is nothing but a carnival parade and a lot of hot air” (1963:96). Though Fanon suggests violence as an alternative method for deciphering a social reality, another important point he raises is the organization and guidance of leadership. Among the Zapatistas, two important aspects of leadership are Marcos and the Zapatista women. Even though the women are very important members of the movement, in fact about half of the commanders are women, they do not receive the media coverage they should. It is Marcos who hoards the attention of the media and received the credit for the movement. This is because Marcos exploits the image of the insurgent figure. Violence or its threat is a key component of the insurgent figure.
The Zapatista movement has many enigmas and contradictions. On the one hand, its goal was to develop a political movement whose leadership would be entirely indigenous. Yet on the other hand, their lack of power and expertise in operating in the Mexican political arena combined with their weak Spanish language skills made it nearly impossible for them stay completely independent from ladinos (another term used for mestizos or Mexicans of mixed ancestry). Jeff Conant (2010) explains how the Zapatistas and their communication strategies are labeled “postmodern.” On the one hand, in a nation state, these communiqués would fit a hybrid multi-centric, multi-dimensional vision which are part of a postmodern academic criteria, yet the Zapatistas (or the communities) are mainly composed of peasant farmers who hope to escape the dominion of the nation-state and the devastating effects of modernity and neoliberalism (Conant, 2010:249). These very peasants use Marcos’s rhetoric and dream of Marxist ideology based on autonomy and no land ownership, yet they are very much part of modernity as they drink Coca Cola and smoke Marlboro cigarettes. There may be electricity and running water, but usually these are considered a luxury few can afford. Healthcare is only available in the main towns, yet cell phones and ATM’s seem to be readily available for all to consume. Jeff Conant explains how the Zapatista project redefines modernity and postmodernity:
The Zapatistas, through their use of strategy and symbol, are engaged in redefining modernity; how the message they project and the ways in which they have chosen to represent the world prefigure emerging conceptions of the world itself at the dawn of the twenty-first century-conceptions that are increasingly mirrored in the construction of popular movements, social structures, and even the emergence of new forms of the nation-state itself. (2010:250) In these modern times, Marcos and his communiqués have been a key strategy to the marketing of the Zapatista movement, yet inevitably using them has had consequences and criticism. Marcos, with his eloquence and theoretical and philosophical training, proved to be a great face for the Zapatistas. A strategy that enabled them to stand out and be heard, as well as to capture international and national audiences was using the image of Marcos as the neo-Zapata.
Collier explains how “in the emerging global order, citizens of the world are more likely to “buy Marcos” than to “buy Mexican- both figuratively and literally, such as by pressuring their own governments to accept or reject trade agreements with Mexico- if Mexico is seen as violating the rights of citizens and minorities” (1999:163). I would argue that indigenous Maya would never have been heard at all by Mexico if they had not used the image that Marcos represents, full of mysticism and machismo ideas. The demands Marcos poetically makes are the same demands indigenous people in Mexico have been making for hundreds of years. However, their inferior ‘sub-human’ status has silenced their voices in the ears of the Mexican mestizo community (who make up the majority of the powerful positions in Mexico). A similar situation occurs in the United States where anti-racism speakers are granted different authority depending on the color of their skin. When black people speak of racism, many (if not most) deny their experiences. Yet when a white person like Tim Wise (a famous anti-racism Caucasian activist) speaks of racism, he is welcomed and celebrated by blacks and whites. Tim Wise is an outstanding speaker, and yet he too acknowledges that what he says is nothing new, but that it must come from a white mouth for whites to accept it. Marcos is as necessary for the indigenous Maya as Tim Wise is for victims of racism in the U.S.
Marcos has become the face of the Maya “intellectuals” to use Gramsci’s term. The intellectuals are those in charge of elaborating and spreading “organic” ideologies. Gramsci stated that all forms of consciousness are political and the following equation was made: philosophy= ideology = politics (Mouffe, 1979). In this case, Marcos revived and rearticulated ancient Maya ideology and transformed it into post revolutionary ideals of democracy, freedom, and justice for all. Marcos came to represent the eternal insurgent figure in Latin America ideology, like Simon Bolivar, El Che Guevara, and Emiliano Zapata, to name a few.
Data Analysis
The Website
Enlace Zapatista is the official EZLN/Zapatista website. This site is divided into five categories and several subcategories within. The website has been operating form many years, allegedly since the emergence of the movement in 1994. The website is not open to the public, it is restricted and in order to access it the user must submit a request which must then be authorized. Once the request is authorized, then the user can view all the different sections, and leave comments. This site also provides a link to Facebook or what they call "feisbuc" (the pronunciation in Spanish). I was recently accepted as Facebook friend so I was able to learn that the Facebook site is not an official site for the EZLN, though it has various pictures and 198 friends. I will not really discuss the Facebook page, as it was not the focus of my study. The following is the breakdown of the EZLN official site. The main categories and subcategories are outlined below:
I- “Juntas de Buen Govierno (JBG)” or Communiqués of the Good Government
a. “Construyendo la Autonomia” or Building Autonomy
b. “Archivo Historico” or Historic Archive
II- “Abajo y a la Izquierda- Denuncias” or Down and to the Left- Denouncements
a. “Actividades” or Activities
b. “Caminando” or Walking
c. “En el Mundo” or In the World
d. “Red Nacional Contra la Represion y para la Solidaridad” or National Net against Repression and for Solidarity
III- “Ya Esta A La Venta- Revista Rebeldia” or Now for Sale- Rebeldia Revista
IV- “Palabras de Abajo” or Words from Below
a. “Articulos” or Articles/Journals
V- “Comision Sexta del EZLN- Communiados de la Comision Sexta del EZLN” or Commission to the Sixth of the EZLN Communiqués
a. “Equipo de Apoyo a la Comision Sexta del EZLN” or Support Team for theCommission to the Sixth of the EZLN
These are links available through the site:
“Radio Insurgentes” Zapatista Radio
“Comunicados EZLN 1994-2005” Communiqués from the EZLN dating from 1994 to 2005.
“Camino Andado 2005-2009” News from the “Otra Campana” or Other Campaing from 2005 to 2009.
These categories list various events and denouncements that are taking place, not only in indigenous territory but throughout Mexico, and sometimes even international events. The website was recently changed to highlight on the top the current news. Overall, the website sends weekly or biweekly announcements. These announcements range from simple denouncements of human rights violations, to multicultural events, or communiqués from the Zapatistas. Many times they cover news of things that are going on concerning indigenous communities. I followed the website by reading the weekly or biweekly announcements, starting in January and concluding the first weeks of May 2011. For the most part, the announcements were relevant to small town news about people erroneously harassed by the Mexican authorities, or commending Zapatistas supporters helping in communities. I was surprised to see the number of cultural events taking place all around Mexico, and I even felt tempted to attend a few which were taking place in Tijuana, Mexico. There were too many posts to list here, but there were two, which received the most comments and were also very significant to me. One was the dead of the renowned Bishop, Samuel Garcia Ruiz (which received over 100 comments) and two communiqués by Marcos (one in March and the other in April).
What I found very interesting is that most posts received very little to no comments. Therefore, I was very impressed to see when any posts were widely commented and read most of these comments. For the most part, people’s comments were supporting the movement and of approving comments, but once in a while (like the case with Marcos) comments were challenging more action in the part of the Zapatistas. Interestingly, none of the comments I read actually responded to any challenges or criticism. Overall, the comments were quite boring and superficial. I also noticed that the vast majority of people read (or started reading) the comments as each post lists the number of readers and this was significantly higher than the comments posted.
Overall, I realized that exploring this website confirmed my feeling of the Zapatistas resorting to marketing to continue keeping the movement alive. However, by this I don’t intend to minimize the importance of this site. I think this site is successful in its effort to promote democracy, unify people under the cause of Zapatismo, and in exposing violations taking place in Mexico and around the world. I plan to continue participating in this site, as it also serves the function of allowing people like me to feel like we are part of the movement, or moving the movement virtually.
Methods
The methods I used for my research included extensive literary analysis of the Zapatista movement, as well as following the official Zapatista website for several months during this semester (Spring 2011). I read weekly or biweekly all the posts and comments submitted in the site and kept a journal (or tried as much as possible) of the important information discussed. Though these are my methods of research, I would like to also discuss the methods the Zapatistas use to keep the movement alive, and to move it to cyberspace or online.
The website Enlace Zapatista uses various activists and human rights news to keep its members involved in the movement and to give a relevance to contemporary events. However, as most of the most widely read posts (based on public comments) are by the its iconic figure, Marcos, it is important to explore his key role in the movement’s virtual success. Marcos has been a key element to the success of the Zapatistas as an iconic image of insurgency. He has a magnificent poetic charisma as well as an attraction embedded in the mystery of his identity. He is a brilliant analyst, eloquent speaker and great strategists. Such qualities made the Zapatista movement highly popular among the masses and the media, through the use of the Internet and visiting reporters from all over the world. Despite all this Subcomandante Marcos does not hold the highest authority within the power structure of the movement. In several interviews, he acknowledged the use of his mysterious image of a magnificent leader; however, he claims to be only a messenger to those really in charge (Hayden, 2002). One Marcos’s best attribute is his eloquence. Marcos uses a poetic style in his lectures where he promotes the connection with the earth, trees, animals, and water, not the typical tedious and calumnious political rhetoric. Tom Hayden explains how “in a country like Mexico, heroic figures are long dreamed of, and Marco offers the possibility for a better country and better people” (2002:378). He maintains his integrity and his promises, which have gained him the trust of over 2,300 Zapatistas, as well as famous figures like Ofelia Medina, Irma Serrano, Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska and Tom Hayden.
Perhaps the best way to understand Marcos is by reading some of the quotes that have made him famous among many intellectuals of the twenty first century. One of his best known quotes happened during the uprising of January 1, 1994, when Marcos approached a group of tourists in the Plaza de Armas (main plaza) of San Cristobal and without alarming them said, “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution” and wished them a good time for the rest of their stay (Hayden, 2002:379). In this quote we can see his gallantry in the way he apologizes to tourist, yet his determination to carry on a revolution. This phrase sounds almost comical and hints to the romanticism of the heroic figures like El Zorro.
Ilan Stavans (in Hayden’s The Zapatista Reader) explains how “the magic of the insurgent figure centers around his secrecy; therefore, the best way for the Mexican government to “defeat” Marcos was to unmask him” (2002:391). According to the Mexican government Marcos’ real name is Rafael Sebastian Guillen Vicente, a 46-year-old (born in 1957) former college professor in the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) or Autonomous Metropolitan University. Stavans clamis to have known him as a former student of his at the university; he recognizes his rhetoric and style (Hayden, 2002). Marcos has always denied this identity and continues to hide his true identity behind a mask, which he offers to take off when the injustices are stopped and Mexico reaches an authentic democracy. During an interview with renowned writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marcos briefly talked about his childhood. Raised in a middle class family, both parents were rural teachers during the Lazaro Cardenas days when communist teachers had their ears cut off (Hayden, 2002). His parents made their children read and appreciate literature. Marcos explains the way he acquired “a consciousness for language as a way of building something” (Hayden, 2002:189). His world as a child revolved around great works of literature such as Don Quixote, The Death of Artemio Cruz, Days to Save and The City and the Dogs. He didn’t know the world through a newswire but through a novel, an essay or a poem.
Marcos’s communiqués are a form of branding for the movement. In the website Enlace Zapatista there is a section with his communiqués and it is one where many people have placed comments, including controversial ones. Through the use of the internet, Marcos and the EZLN have been able to spread these communiqués across borders, “going beyond the traditional limits of political pamphleteering, to function as Branding” (Conant, 2010:41). Just like Starbucks has its symbolism and sells more than just overpriced coffee, and Nike swoosh sells more than athletic apparel but success and competition, the Zapatista had to brand Marcos to mass-produce and mass-diffuse their ideology.
Marketing & Neoliberalism
Branding Zapatismo and Marcos has been key to the widespread success of the movement. Unlike the fate of thousands of indigenous Maya in Guatemala; the Zapatistas set out to market their story and by so doing gain global attention and sympathizers for their cause. As Conant highlights “the ski mask and other symbols of Zapatismo serve to deliver a dense package of information wrapped in a single visual icon to create recognition for it” (2010:41). Branding and marketing are key components of neoliberalism, so in a way the Zapatistas are using these tools to spread their message, yet by using these tools do they also become the oppressor? Who gets the revenues of the massive marketing and sales of Zapatismo? By using the same methods, do the Zapatistas & Marcos further or perpetuate the exploitation of the poor?
In The Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord discusses the role of the mass-mediated spectacle through the reproduction of capitalist ideology (in Conant, 2010). In this he argues that everything in social life is mediated by images, “social life has lost any quality of unmediated experience- it is reduced, in late capitalism, to the endless reproduction of images” (2010:43). In this sense, the Zapatistas are also part of capitalism and recreate and manipulate the spectacle, particularly through Marcos and his strategies. Marcos continues to write to the world about the conditions of indigenous people and anti-globalization issues. His essays are shared worldwide through the official EZLN site Enlace Zapatista (www.ezln.org ). Some of his latest essays criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the U.S. support to Israel in the Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip. Some of his most important demands center on advocacy for gender equality. Yet, does he really promote gender equality when he exploits an image of a Casanova?
Jeff Conant explains the way that revolution has an undeniable sex appeal, “but the heroic bravado of Marcos, combined with his poetic language, his humor, and his mysterious disguise raise this to a new level. He becomes an icon, or beyond an icon, a fetish, the embodiment of guerilla chic- ‘the very stuff of myth’- and so is ensured, as long as he maintain his invisibility, his ubiquity, and his mythic status, a safe haven among the icons of civil society” (2010:243). I agree that Marcos has become a fetish, yet his icon image may be in decline as his actions are further resorting to commercialization. Marcos has been interviews and photographed for Time, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Equire and more. In the film A Place Called Chiapas by Nettie Wild (1998), Marcos expresses “Estaban mas faciles los bombardeos de San Cristobal” (It was easier to deal wit the bombings in San Cristobal) when he is posing for Marie Claire. This would make anyone think he does not like to be photograph, yet one can find a large variety of pictures of Marcos posing, not only in these magazines, but throughout the internet.
Additionally, Marcos recently published a book of erotic poems, which he sells for the inflated price of $145 and must be a special order (according to La Jornada, June 10, 2007 by Arturo Jimenez). Though Marcos refuses to copyright his work (as stated in Shadows of Tender Fury) it seems odd that he would sell his erotic novel titled Noches de Fuego y Desvelo (Nights of Fire and Sleeplessness). I also can’t help but wonder why a revolutionary figure would commercialize an erotic novel if not to exploit the sexiness and mystery of the insurgent figure.
Marcos is manipulating his image far from the idealistic one of the insurgent with revolutionary goals, it is possible that he wishes to renew the marketing of his image as the sensual and mysterious macho, an image more fitting of a romantic hero out of a novel by Isabel Allende, such as his new version of El Zorro. The iconic insurgent image Marcos has been portraying is very much connected with masculinity, virility, and mystery. The image Marcos portrays, rather than fighting colonialism, serves to promote interneocolonialism by validating racism, with the voice of the white man speaking for the indigena, and sexism through equating the image of a man with the idea of revolution. In this sense, by using the iconography of Marcos, the EZLN has moved from a revolution in the traditional sense, to a neorevolution based on marketing and globalization, ironically a component of neoliberalism.
References
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As an anthropologist interested in anti-globalization movements, my original interest in the Chiapas Highland emerged from the Zapatista movement that has aroused international interest since1994. Some would argue that the Zapatistas, or the more common term used for them EZLN (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional) is just another attempt of the Left in Mexico to move towards socialism or even communism. However, the EZLN movement differs from other revolutionary movements in its focus on the maintenance of the indigenous cultural systems, or as 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Octavio Paz said that the EZLN is not simply a postmodernist movement, but one that seeks to mend traditional abuses and injustices against indigenous people and establish an authentic democracy (Paz, 1994). Yet, I would argue that the EZLN movement in their struggle to fight neoliberalism has resorted to marketing images of indigenismo and insurgency by using the internet and other tactics (such as the use of Marcos as an iconic image) and by so doing it has transformed its efforts into a type of internal neocolonialism which has in a way decrease the legitimacy of the movement by posing it as just another marketing icon on the internet. Various renown intellectuals like Octavio Paz, Tom Hayden, Elena Poniatowska, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Carlos Mosivais have argued that what makes the EZLN unique is the poetic beauty of the writings of their spokes person El Sup, nick name for the subcommander Marcos. These poems speak of what the Tzotzil, Tzeltal and all other indigenas of Mexico have been fighting for in the past five hundred years; acknowledgement as indigenous people in the Mexican society, cultural autonomy, respect and dignity, equality of opportunities, sustainable living conditions and the freedom to maintain their culture, and something as simple as a piece of land they can farm for their basic survival. Yet, it has been almost twenty years since the “public birth” of the EZLN and we may ponder on what they have accomplished thus far. How does the EZLN (particularly via Marcos, it’s public face) rhetoric correlate with the ideas being played out by the movement? The EZLN via the internet (and Marcos) has changed from a revolution in the traditional sense, to a marketing of indigeneity (indigenismo) and branding of the image of insurgency, to appeal to a “ready-to-order” form of socialism worldwide. For this project, I decided to explore and follow the Zapatista website titled "Enlace Zapatista" to analyze the type of work the Zapatistas are doing, and to see the way people interact and the views Zapatista followers have about the movement (the website is www.ezln. org.mx).
Literature Review
For many indigenous people in the Americas, capitalism and “the American Dream” have resulted in one of the largest and most destructive effects these lands have ever faced. This destruction included the murder of millions of buffalo only for the eradication of indigenous people, then the thousands, if not millions of Native Americans who were decimated by diseases purposely brought by Europeans (Couturie, 2006). In Culture and Imperialism Edward Said explains the extent of this imperialistic enterprise, “By 1914, the annual rate (of European expansion) had risen to an astonishing 240,000 square miles, and Europe held a grand total of roughly 85 percent of all the earth as colonies, protectorates, dependencies, dominions, and common wealths” (1993:8). The vastness of this European enterprise is not the only concern we must point out, the key factor in this statement centers on the monopoly not just of power but of ideology. Many times when we think of colonialism or its offspring, neocolonialism, we fail to recognize that the physical expression is not as destructive as the ideological one. The ideological involved the internalization of justification of exploitation. In The German Ideology Marx (1976) explains the power of ideology (based on superiority of the West) in the way that ideas justify and promote the economic system as a natural and inevitable operation, a system that produces ideas and continuously justifies them. Through this ideology, the notion of the nation-state was born. The nation-state is a political system that seeks to promote an imaginary homogeneity in a heterogeneous society, and conformance under a monopoly of force used by those in power. Said explains how The cultural horizons of nationalism may be fatally limited by the common history it presumes of colonizer and colonized. Imperialism after all was a cooperative venture, and a salient trait of its modern form is that it was (or claimed to be) an education movement; it set out quite consciously to modernize, develop, instruct, and civilize. The annals of schools, missions, universities, scholarly societies, hospitals in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Europe, and America are filled with this history, which over time established so-called modernizing trends as much as it muted the harsher aspects of imperialist domination. But at its center it preserved the nineteenth-century divide between native and Westerner (1993:223).
Under these conditions we can understand the way that the state normalizes and promotes an internalization of an imperialistic ideology as the price to pay for becoming ‘civilized’ and possibly (though rarely) even part of the bourgeoisie. Throughout the West, capitalism has framed this ideology to justify and rationalize inequalities. One example of an oppressed group is the indigenous Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas, who make the majority of the population of this region (Collier, 1999). The Maya have been battling the oppression imposed on them by those in power, from the Spanish colonizers, to the mestizos or ladino rulers, to modern day neoliberalistic practices through globalization. Chiapas supplies 20 percent of Mexico’s oil and 40 percent of its natural gas, yet despite being so rich in resources, those resources are not available for its citizens. Over 60 percent of the population cooks with firewood, lacks clean drinking water and is chronically malnourished (Conant, 2010:44). These conditions have led to an increase in rebellious movements throughout the state. When interviewed, some Zapatista women in Chiapas expressed: “When your kids are dying of starvation in your arms, you don’t care if you live or die, you are already dead.” The EZLN are part of a key component of Mexico, due the geographic location they occupy, Chiapas. The region of Chiapas is particularly important due to its history of resistance to those in power. Despite the hundreds of years of Spanish colonization, the Maya have remained relatively isolated from the assimilation effects of colonization. The harshness of the environment granted the Maya the protection and production necessary for their physical and cultural autonomy. Where the Spanish colonization decimated the vast majority (over eighty percent) of indigenous people in Mexico, the Maya managed to survive until today, though not without negative effects. The Maya have been relegated to the worst regions in Chiapas and to terrible living conditions, as they have faced the oppression of those in power- the Spanish first, and later the Mexican mestizos, the European bourgeoisie, and later what Fanon called “the new bourgeoisie.” In a way, those Zapatistas that have access to the internet and Marcos, with his ability to speak for the indigenous and the poor, can be seen as new colonizers (through the tools offered by neocolonialism), the Mexican mestizos use the images and ideals promoted by the EZLN to market indigenismo and brand it as part of postmodernism, this is evident throughout the internet sites as well. The use of marketing images of Marcos is a form of conformity to the ideology associated with conquest. The internet is yet another method to homogenize and speak for the subaltern (to use Spivak’s terms). Throughout the website, the voice of the indigenous Maya is not as heard as that of Marcos (based on comments and responses on the site which I will discuss later in this paper).
The Zapatistas
Many may still wonder who the Zapatistas are, and many more erroneously assume that the Zapatistas are a homogenous group of rebels. It is important to outline the different components of Zapatismo . Paco Vazquez of ProMedios, an independent organization in Chiapas explains: “… the voice of the EZLN, the Zapatista military, is not the voice of the indigenous communities that the EZLN exits to defend and protect. It’s easy to forget that we’re talking about two different entities. Related, but different.” (in A Poetics of Resistance, Conant, 2010:46). In this paper, I refer to the Zapatista military, not the indigenous communities. The history of the EZLN is an interesting one, independent from the long history of rebellion of indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas. On November 17, 1983 three mestizos (Mexicans of indigenous and Spanish descent) activists from the National Liberation Forces (FLN) and three indigenous Maya first formed the EZLN or Zapatista National Liberation Army. It is believed that one of these activists was a man who, over the years has been the face of the EZLN and its Spanish voice, Marcos. Many say that the mestizos that joined the movement (including Marcos) were survivors of the student massacre in Tlatelolco (a community in Mexico City) on October 2, 1968. The massacre was a violent attack staged by the Mexican army against a peaceful student protest of the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM one of the top universities in Mexico City), where several students were murdered. Subsequently, activists were forced to carry their operations underground and some fled to the Chiapas’ rainforest. It was in Chiapas, in the Lacandón rainforest that these intellectuals met Maya community leaders and learned their culture and values. This group of intellectuals from Mexico City redefined their struggle to focus on the economic, cultural, and political rights of all the indigenous people of Mexico. It is believed that one of these activists is a former philosophy/sociology professor who now calls himself “Subcomandante Marcos.” Marcos is an important figure for the Zapatistas, though the movement is mainly made up of Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya groups, including the Indigenous Congress by the Diocese of San Cristobal founded in 1974 (Hayden, 2002).
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico triggered the EZLN’s first public or national appearance in 1994, which threatened to worsen the economic conditions of the poor and indigenous populations of Mexico (Hayden, 2002). According to Mexican anthropologists Aida Hernandez and Richard Nigh, Mexico made drastic reforms to agrarian policy in order to prepare for the implementation of NAFTA. This included the abandoning of an 80 year commitment to land reform to benefit small farmers by taking away direct subsidies, credits, and technical assistance, as well as ending direct intervention on marketing structure and price regulation (1998:140). NAFTA supporters in Mexico popularized the ideal that NAFTA would bring modernization to Mexico, though the vehicle of industrial technology. The goal would be to increase productivity and reduce the proportion of the population working in the agricultural sector. In most cases they did not inform the public of the price for this modernization, one being the heavy use of pesticides that led to various diseases and the contamination of the environment (Hernandez & Nigh, 1998:140). The consequences to this destruction on indigenous lifestyles have led to the uprising of various social groups including the Zapatistas. In Mexico, this introduced neoliberalism, a wave of deregulation of governmental laws and free enterprise that benefited corporations at the expense of the poor. Marcos explains some of the effects on Chiapas in the following quote:
Chiapas loses blood through many veins: through oil and gas ducts, electric lines, railways, through bank accounts, trucks, vans, boats and planes, through clandestine paths, gaps and forest trails. This land continues to pay tribute to the imperialists: petroleum, electricity, cattle, money, coffee, banana, honey, corn, cacao, tobacco, sugar, soy, melon, sorghum, mamay, mango, tamarind, avocado, and Chiapaneco blood flows as a result of the thousand teeth sunch into the throat of the Mexican Southeast. (in Poetics of Reistance, Conant, 2010: 64)
Marcos expresses the way that imperialism continues to exploit the indigenous people of Chiapas and pillage their resources. Neoliberalism has led to ecological destruction, agrarian ruin, hyperinflation and social devastation such as alcoholism, prostitution and poverty (Conant, 2010). Marcos’ rhetoric highlights the ideology that has justified this exploitation and social violence. Ideology and its manipulation is key to neoliberalism as it has been to imperialism. Antonio Gramsci’s work explores the connection of politics and ideology when he defines the complexity of hegemony. Hegemony can only exist when the value of the elite is internalized and rationalized by those who are subjugated. “The proletariat can become the leading and dominant class to the extent that it succeeds in creating a system of alliance which allows it to mobilize the majority of the working population against capitalism and the bourgeois State” (Mouffe, 1979:178). To achieve this, the proletarian or in this case the working peasants, the campesinos can achieve this through social consciousness. Social consciousness is what the Zapatistas through Marcos’ communiqués are appealing to. The Zapatistas and Marcos understand that in order to generate real change, they must promote a national ideology based on equality and democracy for the working class. The struggle must be a national or internal struggle.
To achieve this is very complex. The Zapatistas through Marcos must use the tools of the colonist against him in the struggle for liberation (as stated by Frantz Fanon, in The Wretched of the Earth). Yet, by so doing, inevitably the Zapatistas and Marcos are becoming part of neoliberalism and may be inter-neo-colonizing the Maya communities. Fanon, the Martinique-born psychologist inspired generations of revolution through his writings by stating that brutal violence, rather than enlightened civilization or the rule of law, was the defining characteristic of colonialism, thus revolutionary violence was essential for liberation (Conant, 2010: 160). Though Marcos and the EZLN made their appearance through violence, they have denounced violence in favor of rhetoric. Inevitably, violence has followed and flourished in the Chiapas region ever since the Zapatista uprising in 1994. However, Marcos and the EZLN believe that “the poetry of words must, at times, be accompanied by a poetics of action in the form of tactical violence: the liberatory word accompanied by the fire of arms, the fire lending weight and tactical primacy to the word” (Conant, 2010:160). Marcos and the EZLN have used and suggested the use of violence as an alternative method to obtaining democracy, liberty and justice (which is a big component of being a sub commander of an army). Fanon explains the way that violence is sometimes necessary to achieve justice when he states: “Violence alone, perpetrated by the people, violence organized and guided by the leadership, provides the key for the masses to decipher social reality. Without this struggle, without this praxis there is nothing but a carnival parade and a lot of hot air” (1963:96). Though Fanon suggests violence as an alternative method for deciphering a social reality, another important point he raises is the organization and guidance of leadership. Among the Zapatistas, two important aspects of leadership are Marcos and the Zapatista women. Even though the women are very important members of the movement, in fact about half of the commanders are women, they do not receive the media coverage they should. It is Marcos who hoards the attention of the media and received the credit for the movement. This is because Marcos exploits the image of the insurgent figure. Violence or its threat is a key component of the insurgent figure.
The Zapatista movement has many enigmas and contradictions. On the one hand, its goal was to develop a political movement whose leadership would be entirely indigenous. Yet on the other hand, their lack of power and expertise in operating in the Mexican political arena combined with their weak Spanish language skills made it nearly impossible for them stay completely independent from ladinos (another term used for mestizos or Mexicans of mixed ancestry). Jeff Conant (2010) explains how the Zapatistas and their communication strategies are labeled “postmodern.” On the one hand, in a nation state, these communiqués would fit a hybrid multi-centric, multi-dimensional vision which are part of a postmodern academic criteria, yet the Zapatistas (or the communities) are mainly composed of peasant farmers who hope to escape the dominion of the nation-state and the devastating effects of modernity and neoliberalism (Conant, 2010:249). These very peasants use Marcos’s rhetoric and dream of Marxist ideology based on autonomy and no land ownership, yet they are very much part of modernity as they drink Coca Cola and smoke Marlboro cigarettes. There may be electricity and running water, but usually these are considered a luxury few can afford. Healthcare is only available in the main towns, yet cell phones and ATM’s seem to be readily available for all to consume. Jeff Conant explains how the Zapatista project redefines modernity and postmodernity:
The Zapatistas, through their use of strategy and symbol, are engaged in redefining modernity; how the message they project and the ways in which they have chosen to represent the world prefigure emerging conceptions of the world itself at the dawn of the twenty-first century-conceptions that are increasingly mirrored in the construction of popular movements, social structures, and even the emergence of new forms of the nation-state itself. (2010:250) In these modern times, Marcos and his communiqués have been a key strategy to the marketing of the Zapatista movement, yet inevitably using them has had consequences and criticism. Marcos, with his eloquence and theoretical and philosophical training, proved to be a great face for the Zapatistas. A strategy that enabled them to stand out and be heard, as well as to capture international and national audiences was using the image of Marcos as the neo-Zapata.
Collier explains how “in the emerging global order, citizens of the world are more likely to “buy Marcos” than to “buy Mexican- both figuratively and literally, such as by pressuring their own governments to accept or reject trade agreements with Mexico- if Mexico is seen as violating the rights of citizens and minorities” (1999:163). I would argue that indigenous Maya would never have been heard at all by Mexico if they had not used the image that Marcos represents, full of mysticism and machismo ideas. The demands Marcos poetically makes are the same demands indigenous people in Mexico have been making for hundreds of years. However, their inferior ‘sub-human’ status has silenced their voices in the ears of the Mexican mestizo community (who make up the majority of the powerful positions in Mexico). A similar situation occurs in the United States where anti-racism speakers are granted different authority depending on the color of their skin. When black people speak of racism, many (if not most) deny their experiences. Yet when a white person like Tim Wise (a famous anti-racism Caucasian activist) speaks of racism, he is welcomed and celebrated by blacks and whites. Tim Wise is an outstanding speaker, and yet he too acknowledges that what he says is nothing new, but that it must come from a white mouth for whites to accept it. Marcos is as necessary for the indigenous Maya as Tim Wise is for victims of racism in the U.S.
Marcos has become the face of the Maya “intellectuals” to use Gramsci’s term. The intellectuals are those in charge of elaborating and spreading “organic” ideologies. Gramsci stated that all forms of consciousness are political and the following equation was made: philosophy= ideology = politics (Mouffe, 1979). In this case, Marcos revived and rearticulated ancient Maya ideology and transformed it into post revolutionary ideals of democracy, freedom, and justice for all. Marcos came to represent the eternal insurgent figure in Latin America ideology, like Simon Bolivar, El Che Guevara, and Emiliano Zapata, to name a few.
Data Analysis
The Website
Enlace Zapatista is the official EZLN/Zapatista website. This site is divided into five categories and several subcategories within. The website has been operating form many years, allegedly since the emergence of the movement in 1994. The website is not open to the public, it is restricted and in order to access it the user must submit a request which must then be authorized. Once the request is authorized, then the user can view all the different sections, and leave comments. This site also provides a link to Facebook or what they call "feisbuc" (the pronunciation in Spanish). I was recently accepted as Facebook friend so I was able to learn that the Facebook site is not an official site for the EZLN, though it has various pictures and 198 friends. I will not really discuss the Facebook page, as it was not the focus of my study. The following is the breakdown of the EZLN official site. The main categories and subcategories are outlined below:
I- “Juntas de Buen Govierno (JBG)” or Communiqués of the Good Government
a. “Construyendo la Autonomia” or Building Autonomy
b. “Archivo Historico” or Historic Archive
II- “Abajo y a la Izquierda- Denuncias” or Down and to the Left- Denouncements
a. “Actividades” or Activities
b. “Caminando” or Walking
c. “En el Mundo” or In the World
d. “Red Nacional Contra la Represion y para la Solidaridad” or National Net against Repression and for Solidarity
III- “Ya Esta A La Venta- Revista Rebeldia” or Now for Sale- Rebeldia Revista
IV- “Palabras de Abajo” or Words from Below
a. “Articulos” or Articles/Journals
V- “Comision Sexta del EZLN- Communiados de la Comision Sexta del EZLN” or Commission to the Sixth of the EZLN Communiqués
a. “Equipo de Apoyo a la Comision Sexta del EZLN” or Support Team for theCommission to the Sixth of the EZLN
These are links available through the site:
“Radio Insurgentes” Zapatista Radio
“Comunicados EZLN 1994-2005” Communiqués from the EZLN dating from 1994 to 2005.
“Camino Andado 2005-2009” News from the “Otra Campana” or Other Campaing from 2005 to 2009.
These categories list various events and denouncements that are taking place, not only in indigenous territory but throughout Mexico, and sometimes even international events. The website was recently changed to highlight on the top the current news. Overall, the website sends weekly or biweekly announcements. These announcements range from simple denouncements of human rights violations, to multicultural events, or communiqués from the Zapatistas. Many times they cover news of things that are going on concerning indigenous communities. I followed the website by reading the weekly or biweekly announcements, starting in January and concluding the first weeks of May 2011. For the most part, the announcements were relevant to small town news about people erroneously harassed by the Mexican authorities, or commending Zapatistas supporters helping in communities. I was surprised to see the number of cultural events taking place all around Mexico, and I even felt tempted to attend a few which were taking place in Tijuana, Mexico. There were too many posts to list here, but there were two, which received the most comments and were also very significant to me. One was the dead of the renowned Bishop, Samuel Garcia Ruiz (which received over 100 comments) and two communiqués by Marcos (one in March and the other in April).
What I found very interesting is that most posts received very little to no comments. Therefore, I was very impressed to see when any posts were widely commented and read most of these comments. For the most part, people’s comments were supporting the movement and of approving comments, but once in a while (like the case with Marcos) comments were challenging more action in the part of the Zapatistas. Interestingly, none of the comments I read actually responded to any challenges or criticism. Overall, the comments were quite boring and superficial. I also noticed that the vast majority of people read (or started reading) the comments as each post lists the number of readers and this was significantly higher than the comments posted.
Overall, I realized that exploring this website confirmed my feeling of the Zapatistas resorting to marketing to continue keeping the movement alive. However, by this I don’t intend to minimize the importance of this site. I think this site is successful in its effort to promote democracy, unify people under the cause of Zapatismo, and in exposing violations taking place in Mexico and around the world. I plan to continue participating in this site, as it also serves the function of allowing people like me to feel like we are part of the movement, or moving the movement virtually.
Methods
The methods I used for my research included extensive literary analysis of the Zapatista movement, as well as following the official Zapatista website for several months during this semester (Spring 2011). I read weekly or biweekly all the posts and comments submitted in the site and kept a journal (or tried as much as possible) of the important information discussed. Though these are my methods of research, I would like to also discuss the methods the Zapatistas use to keep the movement alive, and to move it to cyberspace or online.
The website Enlace Zapatista uses various activists and human rights news to keep its members involved in the movement and to give a relevance to contemporary events. However, as most of the most widely read posts (based on public comments) are by the its iconic figure, Marcos, it is important to explore his key role in the movement’s virtual success. Marcos has been a key element to the success of the Zapatistas as an iconic image of insurgency. He has a magnificent poetic charisma as well as an attraction embedded in the mystery of his identity. He is a brilliant analyst, eloquent speaker and great strategists. Such qualities made the Zapatista movement highly popular among the masses and the media, through the use of the Internet and visiting reporters from all over the world. Despite all this Subcomandante Marcos does not hold the highest authority within the power structure of the movement. In several interviews, he acknowledged the use of his mysterious image of a magnificent leader; however, he claims to be only a messenger to those really in charge (Hayden, 2002). One Marcos’s best attribute is his eloquence. Marcos uses a poetic style in his lectures where he promotes the connection with the earth, trees, animals, and water, not the typical tedious and calumnious political rhetoric. Tom Hayden explains how “in a country like Mexico, heroic figures are long dreamed of, and Marco offers the possibility for a better country and better people” (2002:378). He maintains his integrity and his promises, which have gained him the trust of over 2,300 Zapatistas, as well as famous figures like Ofelia Medina, Irma Serrano, Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska and Tom Hayden.
Perhaps the best way to understand Marcos is by reading some of the quotes that have made him famous among many intellectuals of the twenty first century. One of his best known quotes happened during the uprising of January 1, 1994, when Marcos approached a group of tourists in the Plaza de Armas (main plaza) of San Cristobal and without alarming them said, “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution” and wished them a good time for the rest of their stay (Hayden, 2002:379). In this quote we can see his gallantry in the way he apologizes to tourist, yet his determination to carry on a revolution. This phrase sounds almost comical and hints to the romanticism of the heroic figures like El Zorro.
Ilan Stavans (in Hayden’s The Zapatista Reader) explains how “the magic of the insurgent figure centers around his secrecy; therefore, the best way for the Mexican government to “defeat” Marcos was to unmask him” (2002:391). According to the Mexican government Marcos’ real name is Rafael Sebastian Guillen Vicente, a 46-year-old (born in 1957) former college professor in the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) or Autonomous Metropolitan University. Stavans clamis to have known him as a former student of his at the university; he recognizes his rhetoric and style (Hayden, 2002). Marcos has always denied this identity and continues to hide his true identity behind a mask, which he offers to take off when the injustices are stopped and Mexico reaches an authentic democracy. During an interview with renowned writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marcos briefly talked about his childhood. Raised in a middle class family, both parents were rural teachers during the Lazaro Cardenas days when communist teachers had their ears cut off (Hayden, 2002). His parents made their children read and appreciate literature. Marcos explains the way he acquired “a consciousness for language as a way of building something” (Hayden, 2002:189). His world as a child revolved around great works of literature such as Don Quixote, The Death of Artemio Cruz, Days to Save and The City and the Dogs. He didn’t know the world through a newswire but through a novel, an essay or a poem.
Marcos’s communiqués are a form of branding for the movement. In the website Enlace Zapatista there is a section with his communiqués and it is one where many people have placed comments, including controversial ones. Through the use of the internet, Marcos and the EZLN have been able to spread these communiqués across borders, “going beyond the traditional limits of political pamphleteering, to function as Branding” (Conant, 2010:41). Just like Starbucks has its symbolism and sells more than just overpriced coffee, and Nike swoosh sells more than athletic apparel but success and competition, the Zapatista had to brand Marcos to mass-produce and mass-diffuse their ideology.
Marketing & Neoliberalism
Branding Zapatismo and Marcos has been key to the widespread success of the movement. Unlike the fate of thousands of indigenous Maya in Guatemala; the Zapatistas set out to market their story and by so doing gain global attention and sympathizers for their cause. As Conant highlights “the ski mask and other symbols of Zapatismo serve to deliver a dense package of information wrapped in a single visual icon to create recognition for it” (2010:41). Branding and marketing are key components of neoliberalism, so in a way the Zapatistas are using these tools to spread their message, yet by using these tools do they also become the oppressor? Who gets the revenues of the massive marketing and sales of Zapatismo? By using the same methods, do the Zapatistas & Marcos further or perpetuate the exploitation of the poor?
In The Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord discusses the role of the mass-mediated spectacle through the reproduction of capitalist ideology (in Conant, 2010). In this he argues that everything in social life is mediated by images, “social life has lost any quality of unmediated experience- it is reduced, in late capitalism, to the endless reproduction of images” (2010:43). In this sense, the Zapatistas are also part of capitalism and recreate and manipulate the spectacle, particularly through Marcos and his strategies. Marcos continues to write to the world about the conditions of indigenous people and anti-globalization issues. His essays are shared worldwide through the official EZLN site Enlace Zapatista (www.ezln.org ). Some of his latest essays criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the U.S. support to Israel in the Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip. Some of his most important demands center on advocacy for gender equality. Yet, does he really promote gender equality when he exploits an image of a Casanova?
Jeff Conant explains the way that revolution has an undeniable sex appeal, “but the heroic bravado of Marcos, combined with his poetic language, his humor, and his mysterious disguise raise this to a new level. He becomes an icon, or beyond an icon, a fetish, the embodiment of guerilla chic- ‘the very stuff of myth’- and so is ensured, as long as he maintain his invisibility, his ubiquity, and his mythic status, a safe haven among the icons of civil society” (2010:243). I agree that Marcos has become a fetish, yet his icon image may be in decline as his actions are further resorting to commercialization. Marcos has been interviews and photographed for Time, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Equire and more. In the film A Place Called Chiapas by Nettie Wild (1998), Marcos expresses “Estaban mas faciles los bombardeos de San Cristobal” (It was easier to deal wit the bombings in San Cristobal) when he is posing for Marie Claire. This would make anyone think he does not like to be photograph, yet one can find a large variety of pictures of Marcos posing, not only in these magazines, but throughout the internet.
Additionally, Marcos recently published a book of erotic poems, which he sells for the inflated price of $145 and must be a special order (according to La Jornada, June 10, 2007 by Arturo Jimenez). Though Marcos refuses to copyright his work (as stated in Shadows of Tender Fury) it seems odd that he would sell his erotic novel titled Noches de Fuego y Desvelo (Nights of Fire and Sleeplessness). I also can’t help but wonder why a revolutionary figure would commercialize an erotic novel if not to exploit the sexiness and mystery of the insurgent figure.
Marcos is manipulating his image far from the idealistic one of the insurgent with revolutionary goals, it is possible that he wishes to renew the marketing of his image as the sensual and mysterious macho, an image more fitting of a romantic hero out of a novel by Isabel Allende, such as his new version of El Zorro. The iconic insurgent image Marcos has been portraying is very much connected with masculinity, virility, and mystery. The image Marcos portrays, rather than fighting colonialism, serves to promote interneocolonialism by validating racism, with the voice of the white man speaking for the indigena, and sexism through equating the image of a man with the idea of revolution. In this sense, by using the iconography of Marcos, the EZLN has moved from a revolution in the traditional sense, to a neorevolution based on marketing and globalization, ironically a component of neoliberalism.
References
Albores, R. G. (1996). Cumplimiento de los Acuerdos de Paz Digna en Chiapas. Chiapas: Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas.
Aviles, J. (1998). Marcos y la insurreccion Zapatista, La "revolucion virtual" de un pueblo oprimido. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Grijalbo.
Chomsky, N. (2003). Hegemony or survival, American quest for global dominance. . New York: Metropolitan Books.
Collier, G. (1999). Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas. New York: Food First Books.
Conant, J. (2010). A Poetics of Resistance, The Revolutionary Public Relations of the Zapatista Insurgency. Oakland: AK Press.
Davis, W. (2007). Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Thorugh the Realm of Vanishing Cultures. Vancouver, B.C. Canada: Douglas & Mc Intyre Ltd.
Fanon, F. (1961). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press. Glusker, S. (1998). Women Networking for peace and survival in Chiapas: militants, celebrities, academics, survivors, and the stiletto heel brigade(Globalization and Local Cultures: Maya Women Negotiate Transformations. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research , 539- 551.
Hayden, T. (2002). The Zapatista Reader. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
Hernandez, A. (2001). Histories and Stories from Chiapas, Border identities in Southern Mexico. Austin: Texas University Press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EZLN. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EZLN
Marx, K. (1911). A contribution to the critique of political economy. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company.
Marx, K. (1988). Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and the Communist Manifesto. New York: Prometheus Books.
Marx, K. (1964). The German Ideology. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Mouffe, C. (1979). Hegemony and Ideology in Gramsci. London: Routledge.
Nanda, S. (2008). Culture Counts. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Nash, J. (2002). Mayan Visions, the Quest for an Autonoy in an Age of Globalization. New York: Routledge Press.
Paz, O. (1994). The Media Spectable Comes to Mexico. In T. Hayden, The Zapatista Reader (pp. 30-33). New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
Poniatowska, E. (1995). Voices from the jungle: Subcomandante Marcos and Culture. In T. Hayden, The Zapatista Reader (pp. 373-382). New York: Thunder's Mouth Press
Press, S. S. (Composer). (2002). Our Word is Our Weapon. [S. MARCOS, Performer] On Our Word is OUr Weapon. New York.
Rosenbaum, B. (1993). With Our Heads Bowed, the Dynamics of gender in a Maya Community. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
Said, E. (1993). Culture and Iperialism. New York: Vintage Books.
West, C. (1990). The New Cultural Politics of Difference. In R. Ferguson, Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures (pp. 19-37). New York: The MIT Press.
Wild, N. (Director). (1998). A Place Called Chiapas [Motion Picture].
Monday, May 9, 2011
Celebrating a Life
Before my father died he asked us to cremate his body and to have a celebration for his life. We had a memorial dinner and my daughter put together this beautiful video to celebrate his life.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cinco De Mayo
Today, being Cinco de Mayo I witnessed how ignorant we are about Mexico's history in regards to this holiday. I asked one of my classes (titled Cultures of Latin America) where a majority of students are Latinos, what was celebrated today. To my surprised nobody was able to tell me, except for a South American student.
Many thought it was Mexican independence day. I think this holiday is more important to Americans than to Mexicans. I was shocked to see how full the El Torito was as I drove passed and noticed the lines outside the door.
Once again, this is an example of cultural marketing and the manipulation of the consumer who is eager to loose their wallet for a 'good time' or the idea of it.
Many thought it was Mexican independence day. I think this holiday is more important to Americans than to Mexicans. I was shocked to see how full the El Torito was as I drove passed and noticed the lines outside the door.
Once again, this is an example of cultural marketing and the manipulation of the consumer who is eager to loose their wallet for a 'good time' or the idea of it.
Last Class
I would like to apologize to all of you (my classmates) for missing our last class. I was looking forward to hearing about all the exciting projects you have all been doing this semester. Yet, my father passed away on Tuesday night, leaving us very devastated.
My father was 64 years old and this was all very sudden to all of us. He was the patriarch of the family, the one who we always went for advise and help. He was a great father, grandfather, and friend. It truly has bee a great loss.
Anyway, thank you for an amazing semester. It has been very interesting learning from your interests and passions. Best of luck and I'll probably see you next semester.
Have a great summer!
My father was 64 years old and this was all very sudden to all of us. He was the patriarch of the family, the one who we always went for advise and help. He was a great father, grandfather, and friend. It truly has bee a great loss.
Anyway, thank you for an amazing semester. It has been very interesting learning from your interests and passions. Best of luck and I'll probably see you next semester.
Have a great summer!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Starz Camelot
Starz seems to be competing with Showtime with their new series Camelot. This series follows a some-what popular season of Spartacus, gory and sensationalized view of the life during the gladiator times of Italy. Though I hate to admit it, I enjoyed watching Spartacus and was somewhat unsure I would like Camelot.
I've watched most episodes, and I'm not very impressed. The dialogues leave much to be desired and overall, most actors are over-acting in my opinion. Perhaps the best character (which sadly is no longer Merlin as he has a withdrawal) is the evil 'witch' Morgan. She plays some of the stereotypes attributed to Druids of that time but sheds a negative, black magic light to them.
The series is not completely bad, it has excellent scenery of Irish landscape, which makes it worth watching (at least for a short period of time).
I've watched most episodes, and I'm not very impressed. The dialogues leave much to be desired and overall, most actors are over-acting in my opinion. Perhaps the best character (which sadly is no longer Merlin as he has a withdrawal) is the evil 'witch' Morgan. She plays some of the stereotypes attributed to Druids of that time but sheds a negative, black magic light to them.
The series is not completely bad, it has excellent scenery of Irish landscape, which makes it worth watching (at least for a short period of time).
The Borgias: Characters
The Borgias: Characters
As a way to take a break from the stress of school and work, I started watching this fascinating historical-based series. I really like the recreation of the times, including the costumes and dresses of the women in the show. Perhaps my favore character is Cesare Borgia, though he is not necessarily cute, he is very sexy and manly.
I think that we are very fortunate to have the ability to recreate the history of this most corrupt family in the screen and enjoy the story line as it unfolds and draws our interest. I also recently found out that you can download segments of future episodes on your android phone. I love technology as it creates a delicious distraction.
Back to my paper though! :(
The Royal Wedding
A friend of mine made a special "Royal Wedding Diner" which I was very fortunate to attend. At first I was hesitant, as I'm not big on celebrating royalty. Yet I decided this would be a good way to escape the problems I'm facing right now. We got all dressed up and played into the glamour and opulence of royalty. My dear friend had a four course meal, and we celebrated all night sipping champagne and reading poems and limericks about the royal family. It was a great way to enjoy this notorious (or popular) event and celebrate life, with lessons about royalty and commoners.
Some of the deeper discussions centered on the way British commoners may feel about the cost of this luxurious wedding (estimated around 76 million dollars) and the economic problems facing England (and the world) today. I learned that every citizen is required to pay something towards the wedding, but this only pays for the security of the event. I guess this is meant to create a sense of contributing to the wedding. Overall, I can't help but think that this is "circus to the masses," another way to keep us distracted to what really is affecting us today.
Some of the deeper discussions centered on the way British commoners may feel about the cost of this luxurious wedding (estimated around 76 million dollars) and the economic problems facing England (and the world) today. I learned that every citizen is required to pay something towards the wedding, but this only pays for the security of the event. I guess this is meant to create a sense of contributing to the wedding. Overall, I can't help but think that this is "circus to the masses," another way to keep us distracted to what really is affecting us today.
Life & Death
As my father's life dwindles between life and death, it really bring in perspective the fears and negative attitudes we have when it comes to dealing with death. I visited him yesterday and the T.V. had some commentators talking about death and the fears we have to deal with it. In the Mexican culture, death is mocked and celebrated during the Dia De Los Muertos (day of the dead) in November. Yet, I don't know if Mexican people in general have a more functional view of death. We recognize it and live with it. Many Mexicans pay respect to their dead throughout the year, by believing they are still around as ghosts. My relatives often address unexplainable events by attributing them to the actions of ghosts. For example, at my grandmother's house, things may be (allegedly) moved, or lights turned-off, and she would tell my grandfather "Ay, Rodolfo, here you are causing havoc again." In a functionalist perspective, this allows her to feel her husband presence as part of her life. The memory doesn't die.
In regards to Life Online, I have learned that we can also deal with death online. I've had the task of making the arrangements for my father's cremation. In the past, this task would probably involve visiting several funerary services and shopping around for the best price and services. Today, I was able to do all this in less than 10 minutes. I found an array of urns, services, and quotes for his cremation online. I can do all the arrangements with the click of a mouse. I think this is better in many respects, not only is it more time efficient, but also it allows me to keep from retelling the situation to strangers and feeling pity for myself (along with distrust for shopping under the emotional pressure).
Death, we should accept, is just another part of life. We go through this journey and as everything else, the journey must conclude, and who know, maybe it will continue somewhere else.
In regards to Life Online, I have learned that we can also deal with death online. I've had the task of making the arrangements for my father's cremation. In the past, this task would probably involve visiting several funerary services and shopping around for the best price and services. Today, I was able to do all this in less than 10 minutes. I found an array of urns, services, and quotes for his cremation online. I can do all the arrangements with the click of a mouse. I think this is better in many respects, not only is it more time efficient, but also it allows me to keep from retelling the situation to strangers and feeling pity for myself (along with distrust for shopping under the emotional pressure).
Death, we should accept, is just another part of life. We go through this journey and as everything else, the journey must conclude, and who know, maybe it will continue somewhere else.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
How real is Inception?
Ever since I read some of the books by Carlos Castaneda, I've been very interested in the study of meaning of dreams. The film inception discusses the power of dreams so I decided to look further into this. The following article discusses the scientific validity of dreams in Inception.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-edlund-md/dream-sharing-inception_b_652088.html#s116939&title=Is_Time_Altered
Techonology and History
A close friend of mine is taking a history class and is really getting into it. He was recently studying the Romanovs and he found a great documentary about their lives. It is amazing the way that this documentary recreates the characters and the time and events. Yet, what struck me the most was that it is all in Russian. You may wonder then how non-Russian speakers or more specifically we (as Americans) who are so linguistically limited, can understand it. Well, the video has a feature to have subtitles in various languages, which you can select. I think that this is a way example of how technology can take learning into amazing levels.
Great documentary, I highly recommend it!
Great documentary, I highly recommend it!
What is reality?
The more we explore the concepts of our class "Life Online" the more I begin to question reality and the power of our minds. I think about the concept of our physical reality versus virtual reality or alternative reality, and though I know there is a difference, I wonder how much of our physical reality is constructed. Could it be like in cyber punk films that our so-called reality is imaginary? Could it be like the film Matrix? Or like inception? Are we all just dreaming?
Many anthropologists have explored the human desire or need to achieve altered states of consciousness by many means. Our ancestors resorted to hallucinogenic drugs, dreams, and trances. Today we are technologically advance to achieve an alternative reality by other mediums.
Yet, I remember a quote from the following film which really makes me wonder...
Many anthropologists have explored the human desire or need to achieve altered states of consciousness by many means. Our ancestors resorted to hallucinogenic drugs, dreams, and trances. Today we are technologically advance to achieve an alternative reality by other mediums.
Yet, I remember a quote from the following film which really makes me wonder...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Inside Job
I recently watched a documentary about the conditions and reasons that led to the current U.S. economic crisis. I think that we've been kept so distracted in order for these culprits to rob as they please.
Check it out and see what you think:
Check it out and see what you think:
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
How does Second Life work?
After reading the book, and never having played Second Life, I was very curious as to how it actually works. It made me wish I had more time (and I wasn't so cheap) to sign up for this game. Instead, I found this video which explains how the game works.
Can the Avatar Speak?
This week we are presenting the ethnography Coming of Age in Second Life by Tom Boellstorff and I found a very interesting article which raises questions of linguistics and power in the book.
Paul Manning from Trent University explores the way that the book uses empirical methods such as ethnography and participant observation to an exploration of an online community, Second Life. Manning poses technology as a "shifter" , a novel technology requiring novel methodology. This "seeks to explore the technologically mediated 'gap' between actual and virtual life precisely by approaching these novel communities using the most traditional, time-honored method of anthropology, participant observation" (311).
He later examines the way that the "avatar embodiment is not meant to erase the gap between the actual and the virtual, but to create it" a fascinating idea which in a way contradicts Boellstorff's point in the book.
You can read the full article:
http://www.anthro.uci.edu/faculty_bios/boellstorff/Manning-JLA.pdf
Paul Manning from Trent University explores the way that the book uses empirical methods such as ethnography and participant observation to an exploration of an online community, Second Life. Manning poses technology as a "shifter" , a novel technology requiring novel methodology. This "seeks to explore the technologically mediated 'gap' between actual and virtual life precisely by approaching these novel communities using the most traditional, time-honored method of anthropology, participant observation" (311).
He later examines the way that the "avatar embodiment is not meant to erase the gap between the actual and the virtual, but to create it" a fascinating idea which in a way contradicts Boellstorff's point in the book.
You can read the full article:
http://www.anthro.uci.edu/faculty_bios/boellstorff/Manning-JLA.pdf
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Anti-terrorism? Sounds more like ignorance
Who is the average terrorist in the U.S.? Many people, erroneously correlate terrorism with Muslims. All muslims are terrorists, except for 94%. This is the title of an article which looks into this topic more in depth. The following article shows actual FBI statistics of the various terrorist attacks, by date and type of attack and also explains which groups (if they can all be lumped together) are the perpetrators.
Check it and see what you think:
Not-all-terrorists-are-muslims/
Check it and see what you think:
Not-all-terrorists-are-muslims/
Yorba Linda Anti-Terrorist Protest? or anti-muslims?
Last month I was going to go to an even organized by ICNA relief in Yorba Linda, with the purpose of raising funds for women's shelters and to fight homelessness and hunger in the U.S. I was so busy with readings and school work that I had to decline.
Apparently, this event was protested by an group of tea party members that allegedly were trying to keep 'terrorism' out of Orange County. I wonder if they have research the statistics of the average terrorist in the U.S. (which would not be an Arab). I was really shocked to witness the amount of hate in a place so close to my home. I have had my kids live in this community and I guess I didn't realize how much intolerance and hate is found here now.
Apparently, this event was protested by an group of tea party members that allegedly were trying to keep 'terrorism' out of Orange County. I wonder if they have research the statistics of the average terrorist in the U.S. (which would not be an Arab). I was really shocked to witness the amount of hate in a place so close to my home. I have had my kids live in this community and I guess I didn't realize how much intolerance and hate is found here now.
Fake Psychologist Uses the Web for Sick Purposes
Fake Psychologists Story
THe other day, I heard on the radio about a man (former INS agent) poses online as a fake psychologist and convinces women to sexually molest their own children. He admits to the charges and states that he used a picture of a handsome man and promises a date to these single mothers.
This is really relevant to our discussion this week on identity and deception. Don't people realize that the person behind the online texts could be anybody?
THe other day, I heard on the radio about a man (former INS agent) poses online as a fake psychologist and convinces women to sexually molest their own children. He admits to the charges and states that he used a picture of a handsome man and promises a date to these single mothers.
This is really relevant to our discussion this week on identity and deception. Don't people realize that the person behind the online texts could be anybody?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Stand Up for Education
On March 14, 2011, Fullerton College Associated Students, Faculty and other staff are standing up in solidarity to support education against budget cuts, pink slips, and fee increases in the state of California. There will be a press conference followed by a rally. They ask that people wear read to show solidarity. It is amazing how many classes are being cut and how much this has negatively impacted students. If you would like to participate, here is the information. Please help spread the word.
Where: start at Fullerton College and march to Harbor Blvd. and Valley View at6 Assembly Member Norby's Office.
When: March begins in the middle of the Fullerton College Quad at 2:50pm and will proceed to mapped route.
Where: start at Fullerton College and march to Harbor Blvd. and Valley View at6 Assembly Member Norby's Office.
When: March begins in the middle of the Fullerton College Quad at 2:50pm and will proceed to mapped route.
Monday, March 7, 2011
A Postmodern Culture of Simulation
Sherry Turkle's article Who Am We? states that we are "moving from a modernist culture of calculation toward a postmodernist culture of simulation" (p.1) This follows some of the earlier readings we had about the human need or desire for transcendence. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I think the amount of time and interaction we have online has affected the way we conceptualize our world. One of Turkle's subjects referred to this as "now real life itself may be just one more window"(p.1). It makes sense that as we spend more of our time and devote more attention to online activities, our patterns of thought change.
People go on MUD's to seek or construct a life that is more rewarding that their real life. Even the notion of "real life" is arbitrary, because the online experience is real to those who experience it. Stewart was a very interesting example of this. He was a physics student with many health problems who took on an online identity named Achilles who had all the characteristics Stewart lacked. Stewart however, does not see this as role playing, but as revealing a "better version of himself" (p.6). I think the problem arises when the virtual reality comes face-to-face with the physical reality and we see ourselves as we really are, physically anyway. Stewart experiences this at the end and reports feeling worse about himself (p.7).
The question of cross-dressing and gender-bending was quite interesting and I wondered about the deep motivations to do so. Yet what I found most fascinating was the question of cybersex and fidelity. I was interested in the different reactions women have about their spouses having a virtual affair. I also felt conflicted about this, on the one hand it is not a "real" physical affair, but can we say that it is not real?
Turkle states "technology is bringing postmodernism down to earth itself; the story of technology refuses modernist resolutions and requires an openness to multiple viewpoints" (p.11) This is at the heart of the argument. I think postmodernism invites us to really question the boundaries of reality in our culture infused with technology.
People go on MUD's to seek or construct a life that is more rewarding that their real life. Even the notion of "real life" is arbitrary, because the online experience is real to those who experience it. Stewart was a very interesting example of this. He was a physics student with many health problems who took on an online identity named Achilles who had all the characteristics Stewart lacked. Stewart however, does not see this as role playing, but as revealing a "better version of himself" (p.6). I think the problem arises when the virtual reality comes face-to-face with the physical reality and we see ourselves as we really are, physically anyway. Stewart experiences this at the end and reports feeling worse about himself (p.7).
The question of cross-dressing and gender-bending was quite interesting and I wondered about the deep motivations to do so. Yet what I found most fascinating was the question of cybersex and fidelity. I was interested in the different reactions women have about their spouses having a virtual affair. I also felt conflicted about this, on the one hand it is not a "real" physical affair, but can we say that it is not real?
Turkle states "technology is bringing postmodernism down to earth itself; the story of technology refuses modernist resolutions and requires an openness to multiple viewpoints" (p.11) This is at the heart of the argument. I think postmodernism invites us to really question the boundaries of reality in our culture infused with technology.
Smart vs. Dumb Cell phones
I've had my cell phone for a while now and I was successfully resisting the temptation to switch. My cell phone had the ability to go online but it was painfully slow. My partner who has an iPhone, would poke fun at mine saying "maybe when your phone grows up it may be an iphone." When ever I looked up directions or the GPS, it would take for ever to load.
So I decided to get a Smart phone, only to realize how non-smart I am about this technology. I was amazed to how much the phone can do. My 13 year old son called me and was telling me about the apps we could download (he got one too, and learned to use it in a day!). I didn't even know what an app was. Anyway, though I'm happy to have the phone, I feel frustrated with the amount of time it will take me to learn how to use it. Then I realize how much time we spend using these smart phones and I wonder if all that time is wisely invested (or what seems to me as wasted). Not to mention that the battery runs out pretty fast when you use the phone for all this other stuff. I often wonder, have really become so dependent on technology? I remember a time when one could go through the day without a cell phone or the internet.
So I decided to get a Smart phone, only to realize how non-smart I am about this technology. I was amazed to how much the phone can do. My 13 year old son called me and was telling me about the apps we could download (he got one too, and learned to use it in a day!). I didn't even know what an app was. Anyway, though I'm happy to have the phone, I feel frustrated with the amount of time it will take me to learn how to use it. Then I realize how much time we spend using these smart phones and I wonder if all that time is wisely invested (or what seems to me as wasted). Not to mention that the battery runs out pretty fast when you use the phone for all this other stuff. I often wonder, have really become so dependent on technology? I remember a time when one could go through the day without a cell phone or the internet.
The Death of My Facebook?
After more problems than satisfactions, I decided to pull the plug on my Facebook account. This experience is similar to the attempt to quit smoking. People say, "I really want to quit, this is not good for me, it's a waste of my time and money" yet we find ourselves unable to stop. I was wondering if being on Facebook was becoming an addiction. I always told myself, I'm never on Facebook. Then, I started actually counting the time I spent daily and the number of things I was neglecting, just "por metiche" as we say in Spanish. Just driven by the curiosity of what other people are doing or saying. Then, I would also find myself in situations where I talked to some people more than I should, about things I shouldn't, in other words, I would get caught in some "chisme" that caused me more headaches than needed.
Anyway, for now at least, I decided to quit Facebook and apply my free time to homework, and work. I think this blog will help "wean me" off the addiction of social networking.
A dear friend of mine recently took on a pseudo name and changed her Facebook to an gender-neutral name and kept only thirty something from hundreds of friends. This really got me thinking about the meaning of social networking and meaningful relationships. I decided I'm not ready to do this, as it may be hard for me to pick just a few friends (I'm so darn indecisive) and would feel bad. So for now, I would really like to get your views on this. Many of my Facebook friends read this blog, so please let me know what you think.
Anyway, for now at least, I decided to quit Facebook and apply my free time to homework, and work. I think this blog will help "wean me" off the addiction of social networking.
A dear friend of mine recently took on a pseudo name and changed her Facebook to an gender-neutral name and kept only thirty something from hundreds of friends. This really got me thinking about the meaning of social networking and meaningful relationships. I decided I'm not ready to do this, as it may be hard for me to pick just a few friends (I'm so darn indecisive) and would feel bad. So for now, I would really like to get your views on this. Many of my Facebook friends read this blog, so please let me know what you think.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Immigration Event at Fullerton College
On Wednesday 2/23 we had a multidisciplinary panel on immigration at Fullerton College. The event was inspired by the book Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario. The panelists were Josh Ashenmiller from the history department, Jodi Balma from Political Science, Flor Huerta from Counseling, me from Anthropology and our moderator was Adela Lopez from Ethnic Studies. Each panelist provided an overview of their perspective on immigration, yet being such a broad topic and having time limitations of 10 minutes, it was difficult to provide a holistic perspective on the topic.
Flor was the first one, she reminded us of the importance of getting to know the students at FC and getting past the stereotypes we have about undocumented students being ignorant and poor. She explained that many immigrants face additional challenges, but they are dedicated, hard-working, and many have very high academic training from their home countries. Overall, all students are working hard to pursue the American Dream of a better life. We should look at our similarities more than our differences.
Josh provided a very interesting overview of the historical attitudes and ideas about immigration. Many people claim that immigrants today are not like immigrants in the past, yet historically we can see that negative feelings and xenophobic attitudes have been the norm for all waves of immigration. He explained how difficult it is to discern the reasons for migration. Policies favor immigrants who are escaping political repression but not economic hardship. However, most immigrants are migrating due to economic hardship resulting from political repression.
Jodi explain the political climate now with the division of our governmental institutions. She expressed that it is highly unlikely that we will have an immigration reform within the next two years. Though an immigration reform is really what we need, we have a very uncertain (and possibly unsafe) immigration practice. Many immigrants are coming from various countries as visitors and yet decide to stay. These immigrants however, are not tracked by the government and some (like Canadians and Irish) just pass as documented due to their physical characteristics.
I discussed the wave of indigenous immigrants to the U.S. A major challenge for me was to provide conceptualize the framework which has led to the large wave of immigrants from Latin America to the U.S. Many U.S. citizens ignore the post-colonialism that has taken place in Latin America. The impact the U.S. presence has had in countries like Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Mexico (to name a few). Additionally, globalization and neoliberalism has made it extremely difficult to make a living in these countries. I conducted an ethnography of Oaxaquenos in Orange County in 2009, and then I visited Oaxaca and researched the effects this migration has had in the indigenous communities in Oaxaca. A vast majority of the agricultural labor in California is made up of immigrants, many of whom are indigenous. This has had a very negative effect in the indigenous communities in Oaxaca, domestic violence is one of the highest in Oaxaca. Additionally, there has been an increase in crime and gang membership there. California has one of the largest diaspora of Oaxaquenos with approximately 400,000 living in the U.S., about 100,000 migrate during the agricultural season. This has resulted in an interesting mixing of cultures. We are fortunate to enjoy the rich culture of Oaxaca in food, festivals, and more, and Oaxaca has been able to receive about large remittances (in 2007 there were 25 billion dollars in remittances). Yet, the money sent to Oaxaca does not stay there. During my visit I was surprised with the number of corporations which have opened business there (like Dominos Pizza, Burger King, Chase bank, McDonald's, etc.). These remittances are being moved back and forward with out borders (globalization).
So the main points to conclude the event were:
-Immigration is a necessity to keep the U.S. economy going.
-We must recognize that not all undocumented immigrants are Latinos (despite Arizona's policies and attacks).
-We need to have a comprehensive immigration reform, yet it is very difficult due to the political and economic situation. WHen the economy is bad people tend to find scape goats to blame for the situation.
My conclusion was that it is critical that we continue to have a discussion and explore the various facts that surrond this issue. We need to reflect on the moral issues we face as humans on the rights of the individual. Taking a multidisciplinary look, enables us to get closer to a holistic analysis of the issue, which is the aim of any anthropological perspective.
Flor was the first one, she reminded us of the importance of getting to know the students at FC and getting past the stereotypes we have about undocumented students being ignorant and poor. She explained that many immigrants face additional challenges, but they are dedicated, hard-working, and many have very high academic training from their home countries. Overall, all students are working hard to pursue the American Dream of a better life. We should look at our similarities more than our differences.
Josh provided a very interesting overview of the historical attitudes and ideas about immigration. Many people claim that immigrants today are not like immigrants in the past, yet historically we can see that negative feelings and xenophobic attitudes have been the norm for all waves of immigration. He explained how difficult it is to discern the reasons for migration. Policies favor immigrants who are escaping political repression but not economic hardship. However, most immigrants are migrating due to economic hardship resulting from political repression.
Jodi explain the political climate now with the division of our governmental institutions. She expressed that it is highly unlikely that we will have an immigration reform within the next two years. Though an immigration reform is really what we need, we have a very uncertain (and possibly unsafe) immigration practice. Many immigrants are coming from various countries as visitors and yet decide to stay. These immigrants however, are not tracked by the government and some (like Canadians and Irish) just pass as documented due to their physical characteristics.
I discussed the wave of indigenous immigrants to the U.S. A major challenge for me was to provide conceptualize the framework which has led to the large wave of immigrants from Latin America to the U.S. Many U.S. citizens ignore the post-colonialism that has taken place in Latin America. The impact the U.S. presence has had in countries like Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Mexico (to name a few). Additionally, globalization and neoliberalism has made it extremely difficult to make a living in these countries. I conducted an ethnography of Oaxaquenos in Orange County in 2009, and then I visited Oaxaca and researched the effects this migration has had in the indigenous communities in Oaxaca. A vast majority of the agricultural labor in California is made up of immigrants, many of whom are indigenous. This has had a very negative effect in the indigenous communities in Oaxaca, domestic violence is one of the highest in Oaxaca. Additionally, there has been an increase in crime and gang membership there. California has one of the largest diaspora of Oaxaquenos with approximately 400,000 living in the U.S., about 100,000 migrate during the agricultural season. This has resulted in an interesting mixing of cultures. We are fortunate to enjoy the rich culture of Oaxaca in food, festivals, and more, and Oaxaca has been able to receive about large remittances (in 2007 there were 25 billion dollars in remittances). Yet, the money sent to Oaxaca does not stay there. During my visit I was surprised with the number of corporations which have opened business there (like Dominos Pizza, Burger King, Chase bank, McDonald's, etc.). These remittances are being moved back and forward with out borders (globalization).
So the main points to conclude the event were:
-Immigration is a necessity to keep the U.S. economy going.
-We must recognize that not all undocumented immigrants are Latinos (despite Arizona's policies and attacks).
-We need to have a comprehensive immigration reform, yet it is very difficult due to the political and economic situation. WHen the economy is bad people tend to find scape goats to blame for the situation.
My conclusion was that it is critical that we continue to have a discussion and explore the various facts that surrond this issue. We need to reflect on the moral issues we face as humans on the rights of the individual. Taking a multidisciplinary look, enables us to get closer to a holistic analysis of the issue, which is the aim of any anthropological perspective.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Body Language & ASL
A friend just sent me a link to this video which is not just hilarious, but demonstrates the complexity of human communication.
Part of linguistics anthropology is the study of non-verbal communication, which is very much a part of American Sign Language (ASL). I think this girl not only uses the correct signs to translate the song but also combines gestures, facial expressions, body movement, in other words kinesics to re-enact this song.
Let's see what you guys think:
Part of linguistics anthropology is the study of non-verbal communication, which is very much a part of American Sign Language (ASL). I think this girl not only uses the correct signs to translate the song but also combines gestures, facial expressions, body movement, in other words kinesics to re-enact this song.
Let's see what you guys think:
Panel on Immigration
Next week, Wednesday 2/23 Fullerton College is having a multidisciplinary panel on immigration, in honor of the book Enrique's Journey. I will be one of the panelists and will be talking about the issues indigenous immigrants face when they come to the U.S.
This will be held in rooms 224-228 at 10:30am in case any of you guys want to come by to check it out. I'm guessing we'll have a very divided crowd as this event was announced in the O.C. Register, and we talked about how vocal its readers tend to get (anti-immigration).
This will be held in rooms 224-228 at 10:30am in case any of you guys want to come by to check it out. I'm guessing we'll have a very divided crowd as this event was announced in the O.C. Register, and we talked about how vocal its readers tend to get (anti-immigration).
Great Documentary
The documentary titled The End of Poverty provides a great perspective to the reasons for inequalities worldwide. I also just watched El Norte and was thinking about the reasons that force immigrants to come to the U.S. Many Americans are very intolerant of undocumented immigrants, and these sentiments are only getting worse with the downfall of our economy. Yet many would not necessarily be as intolerant if they put in perspective the historical reasons for the situation and poverty many people in the world face.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/end-of-poverty/
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/end-of-poverty/
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Should scholars join the showbiz?
I was recently talking to a friend who introduced me to Kara Cooney, an Egyptologist from UCLA who has been using her looks to gain ground the showbiz.
The question of whether or not scholars should utilize their looks to sensationalize traditional conservative scholarly fields came about. The questions we asked included whether or not academics should be part of shows that mirror Indiana Jones in their approach to water-down theories and sensationalize fields like Anthropology and Egyptology. I wondered however, if a character like Kara Cooney or David Cheetham should have their reputation damaged because they choose to participate in showbiz.
This is her website. It is interesting to look at her photos and wonder whether she is promoting Egyptologist research or herself.
http://www.karacooney.com/
The question of whether or not scholars should utilize their looks to sensationalize traditional conservative scholarly fields came about. The questions we asked included whether or not academics should be part of shows that mirror Indiana Jones in their approach to water-down theories and sensationalize fields like Anthropology and Egyptology. I wondered however, if a character like Kara Cooney or David Cheetham should have their reputation damaged because they choose to participate in showbiz.
This is her website. It is interesting to look at her photos and wonder whether she is promoting Egyptologist research or herself.
http://www.karacooney.com/
Digital Nation
The book we read this week reminded me of an amazing documentary on the effect of our addiction to being online. This PBS video explores the effects the internet has had on children, on college students, on policies countries like Korea have developed and even on giving elderly people a sense of belonging. It is very interesting and very relevant to this class.
Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.
Biocultural/Evolutionary Anthropology
On Tuesday, I was invited to give a lecture on the Inca by a colleague and friend at CSU Fullerton. I was happy to visit the first college I thought at, and my alma mater.
I was surprised to see the many changes this department has undergone, one in particular called my attention. They have a new program called "Biocultural/Evolutionary Anthropology" and the description really got me thinking about some of the stuff (like Chagnon) we've discussed in class. Here it is:
"Biocultura/evolutionary anthropology is "an explicit evolutionary perspective" that integrates data from primatology, paleoanthropology, human biology, biomedicine, and human behavioral ecology to understand the adaptive nature of human biology and behavior, while attending to the social environment as an important determinant of, and constraint on behavior."
This definition seemed very vague and kind of contradictory. Are they saying that genes drive behavior but the environment determines it? What do you guys think?
It's interesting to contrast this to epigenetics.
I was surprised to see the many changes this department has undergone, one in particular called my attention. They have a new program called "Biocultural/Evolutionary Anthropology" and the description really got me thinking about some of the stuff (like Chagnon) we've discussed in class. Here it is:
"Biocultura/evolutionary anthropology is "an explicit evolutionary perspective" that integrates data from primatology, paleoanthropology, human biology, biomedicine, and human behavioral ecology to understand the adaptive nature of human biology and behavior, while attending to the social environment as an important determinant of, and constraint on behavior."
This definition seemed very vague and kind of contradictory. Are they saying that genes drive behavior but the environment determines it? What do you guys think?
It's interesting to contrast this to epigenetics.
New Video On Genetic Tree Of Life
I was recently checking my favorite website, topdocumentaryfilms.com, and I came across Spencer Wells' new documentary titled Tree of Life, where just as Journey of Man, he (in combination with National Geographic & IBM) traces the genetic code of diverse populations.
This time, he goes to Queens N.Y. where you find the most diverse population. Through DNA analysis, they are able to trace the genetic history of the origins of various people. As fascinating as this sounds, it raises a lot of questions to me. What assumptions are being made and what do they leave behind?
Check out the video http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/human-family-tree/
The San Diego Museum of Man has an exhibit about this and also the American Anthro Assoc. recent (amazing!!) Race exhibit. You should take some time to go visit these.
This time, he goes to Queens N.Y. where you find the most diverse population. Through DNA analysis, they are able to trace the genetic history of the origins of various people. As fascinating as this sounds, it raises a lot of questions to me. What assumptions are being made and what do they leave behind?
Check out the video http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/human-family-tree/
The San Diego Museum of Man has an exhibit about this and also the American Anthro Assoc. recent (amazing!!) Race exhibit. You should take some time to go visit these.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day? I think not...
Today, the U.S. (and other countries as well) celebrate Valentine's day, but what do we really celebrate? Love? Friendship? Relationships? This is what Wikipedia had to say:
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day,is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
To me, this seems more as a Hallmark made up holiday, another excuse to shop and spend money (usually on credit, driving us into further debt) on things that would more than likely wind up contributing to the excessive pollution we produce. Yet, does this holiday make us happier? Does it promote more love amongst each other?
I hardly think so. I visited the mall and observed the way that people frantically shop last minute for their loved. The lines at See's Candy and Godiva were out the door. The restaurants had a minimum waiting time of one hour, at 4:30pm!!
I must say I enjoyed watching the way other people react to the pressure to celebrate and conform to this "holiday" while I once again, refused to celebrate it, in the conventional way. Instead, I chose to do what I do everyday, show my love in the everyday actions. :)
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day,is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
To me, this seems more as a Hallmark made up holiday, another excuse to shop and spend money (usually on credit, driving us into further debt) on things that would more than likely wind up contributing to the excessive pollution we produce. Yet, does this holiday make us happier? Does it promote more love amongst each other?
I hardly think so. I visited the mall and observed the way that people frantically shop last minute for their loved. The lines at See's Candy and Godiva were out the door. The restaurants had a minimum waiting time of one hour, at 4:30pm!!
I must say I enjoyed watching the way other people react to the pressure to celebrate and conform to this "holiday" while I once again, refused to celebrate it, in the conventional way. Instead, I chose to do what I do everyday, show my love in the everyday actions. :)
Are all chats the same?
I just completed a synchronous reflection assignment and found myself disappointed with the outcome. It may be because I'm completely new to chatting, or perhaps it is the propensity of humans to use chat rooms as mediums to find mates. I don't know, but I was really hoping to complete this assignment in a site that had members who were discussing intellectual topics which would be fascinating to follow.
I typed "live chat rooms" in the google and found mainly those which center around singles looking to meet others. I then visited NPR and KPFK but could not find any. At one point I found one on CNN that followed the situation in Egypt, but then I realized the chat room was already close.
Does anybody know of any chats that would be more academic? Or do we just have to accept the function of the chat being an extended dating site?
I typed "live chat rooms" in the google and found mainly those which center around singles looking to meet others. I then visited NPR and KPFK but could not find any. At one point I found one on CNN that followed the situation in Egypt, but then I realized the chat room was already close.
Does anybody know of any chats that would be more academic? Or do we just have to accept the function of the chat being an extended dating site?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Ethics vs. Objective Research
This past week we were discussing the issue of ethics in research and being able to conduct empirical research.
I thought this was a very interesting subject, which reminds me of the debates that Clifford Geertz (an interpretive anthropologist) and Marvin Harris (a cultural materialist/positivist) use to have. Both anthropologists would attack each other for the validity of their research. Geertz would take an approach which basically challenged the notion of having an absolutely 'biased-free' ethnography, stating that interpretation was a key component of any ethnography. Harris, on the other hand, promoted the idea that objectivity and an etic approach was fundamental to ethnographic research and that the ethnographer was capable of identifying causal explanations. I think both of them were right in their own way, but mainly this debate can very much be applied to our discussion of ethics and objective research.
On the one hand, we must protect the identity of the human subject, but online, how can we ever make sure we know the true identity of the participant? Should we? How replicable or empirical can research be if you cannot ever validate or replicate or prove the research that is being conducted?
Additionally, online research becomes obsolete very quickly as technologies continue to change. By the time the ethnographer publishes the book, it is very possible that the system is either out dated or not as used any more (like Second Life). Should be move to publishing research online and constantly be updating it, like we do through venues like this blog?
I thought this was a very interesting subject, which reminds me of the debates that Clifford Geertz (an interpretive anthropologist) and Marvin Harris (a cultural materialist/positivist) use to have. Both anthropologists would attack each other for the validity of their research. Geertz would take an approach which basically challenged the notion of having an absolutely 'biased-free' ethnography, stating that interpretation was a key component of any ethnography. Harris, on the other hand, promoted the idea that objectivity and an etic approach was fundamental to ethnographic research and that the ethnographer was capable of identifying causal explanations. I think both of them were right in their own way, but mainly this debate can very much be applied to our discussion of ethics and objective research.
On the one hand, we must protect the identity of the human subject, but online, how can we ever make sure we know the true identity of the participant? Should we? How replicable or empirical can research be if you cannot ever validate or replicate or prove the research that is being conducted?
Additionally, online research becomes obsolete very quickly as technologies continue to change. By the time the ethnographer publishes the book, it is very possible that the system is either out dated or not as used any more (like Second Life). Should be move to publishing research online and constantly be updating it, like we do through venues like this blog?
Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny
Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny
I was recently working on revising the Test Bank and Instructor's Manual for a book on Human Evolution and I was fascinated with some recent discoveries. Though this project was very labor intense and exhausting, it was nice to read and revisit some of the concepts I teach in Physical Anthropology.
The topic of epigenetics really caught my attention. Epigenetics describe the way that genes are not necessarily determinants of our characteristics. These epigenes are software that turn on or off particular genes, so that even in cases where two individuals have identical DNA (like monozygotic twins) they will not have the same genetic expressions. This new discovery further discredits biological deterministic ideas (such as those claimed by some Evolutionary Psychologists) and once again supports the importance of the environment.
Read this article to find out more information on this.
I was recently working on revising the Test Bank and Instructor's Manual for a book on Human Evolution and I was fascinated with some recent discoveries. Though this project was very labor intense and exhausting, it was nice to read and revisit some of the concepts I teach in Physical Anthropology.
The topic of epigenetics really caught my attention. Epigenetics describe the way that genes are not necessarily determinants of our characteristics. These epigenes are software that turn on or off particular genes, so that even in cases where two individuals have identical DNA (like monozygotic twins) they will not have the same genetic expressions. This new discovery further discredits biological deterministic ideas (such as those claimed by some Evolutionary Psychologists) and once again supports the importance of the environment.
Read this article to find out more information on this.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Internet Research Ethics
The following are some notes I got from my class Life Online regarding internet research ethics.
o IRB- Institutional Review Board they oversee ‘human subjects research/review
o 3 overarching principles:
o Autonomy- informed consent, anonymity/confidentiality (also part of benefit), vulnerable populations (possible coercive effects)
• Anonymity-
o Beneficence- the benefits of the research has to out weight the risks
o Justice- any advantages are fairly distributed.
• 2001- American Anthropology Association had a scandal about Napoleon Chagnon. A book was written which focuses on discrediting Chagnon, Darkness in El Dorado, "The Fierce Anthropologist", by Patrick Tierney Chagnon was accused of purposely spreading measles into the villages. The AAA issued a report condemning Chagnon for his practices, for not giving vaccinations to the subjects because it would have impacted their research.
• Things to consider- what are the obligations of the researcher to the subjects?
o Risks, audience, purpose, confidentiality,
o Issues arise for anthropologists when they study higher end groups.
o We owe at minimum gratitude, and protection to our human subjects.
o Persistence of data- not everyone is aware of how archived and long-term data is online and the accessibility of it.
• Distinction between perception and reality
• Keep track of identifying info they may not have put online
o The Internet has the ability to bring together in the same activity that has very different understanding of the activity.
o Written vs. oral consent-
• Vulnerable population- as long as the topic is not inheritably controversial and you’re not targeting a site with a large population of minors. As long as you ask to be notified if you the subject are not over 18, you should be ok.
It is definitely a complex situation.
o IRB- Institutional Review Board they oversee ‘human subjects research/review
o 3 overarching principles:
o Autonomy- informed consent, anonymity/confidentiality (also part of benefit), vulnerable populations (possible coercive effects)
• Anonymity-
o Beneficence- the benefits of the research has to out weight the risks
o Justice- any advantages are fairly distributed.
• 2001- American Anthropology Association had a scandal about Napoleon Chagnon. A book was written which focuses on discrediting Chagnon, Darkness in El Dorado, "The Fierce Anthropologist", by Patrick Tierney Chagnon was accused of purposely spreading measles into the villages. The AAA issued a report condemning Chagnon for his practices, for not giving vaccinations to the subjects because it would have impacted their research.
• Things to consider- what are the obligations of the researcher to the subjects?
o Risks, audience, purpose, confidentiality,
o Issues arise for anthropologists when they study higher end groups.
o We owe at minimum gratitude, and protection to our human subjects.
o Persistence of data- not everyone is aware of how archived and long-term data is online and the accessibility of it.
• Distinction between perception and reality
• Keep track of identifying info they may not have put online
o The Internet has the ability to bring together in the same activity that has very different understanding of the activity.
o Written vs. oral consent-
• Vulnerable population- as long as the topic is not inheritably controversial and you’re not targeting a site with a large population of minors. As long as you ask to be notified if you the subject are not over 18, you should be ok.
It is definitely a complex situation.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
David Garrett in Concert
Tonight I went to hear the famous violinist David Garrett in concert. It was very interesting to see the way this innovative, young violinist mixes rock and role with classical sounds, like those produced by the violin. When one thinks of a violinist in concert, one doesn't expect to hear songs by artists like Metallica, Nirvana, and Guns and Roses. Yet Garrett makes this happen in a delightful and inspiring way.
David Garrett was born in Germany, to a famous American ballerina and a successful German attorney and business man. Garrett began playing the violin when he was four and had been playing the classics all through his childhood and teens. At 17 he decided to study in New York and several scholarships as well as money for school by modeling. I think Garrett was rebelling against the classical music style and created a unique genera by mixing the two.
At the concert, Garrett was wearing jeans and unlaced shoes with a dress jacket. In between songs, he tells interesting and funny anecdotes about his life.
Such unique, relaxed style made me think of the way media has impacted younger generations, making it possible for mixture like this one to emerge. The amount of information available through the web enables us to learn about various styles and it allows for new ones to emerge.
It will be interesting to see how this young artist and his music continues evolve overtime, and inevitably his fans will follow.
David Garrett was born in Germany, to a famous American ballerina and a successful German attorney and business man. Garrett began playing the violin when he was four and had been playing the classics all through his childhood and teens. At 17 he decided to study in New York and several scholarships as well as money for school by modeling. I think Garrett was rebelling against the classical music style and created a unique genera by mixing the two.
At the concert, Garrett was wearing jeans and unlaced shoes with a dress jacket. In between songs, he tells interesting and funny anecdotes about his life.
Such unique, relaxed style made me think of the way media has impacted younger generations, making it possible for mixture like this one to emerge. The amount of information available through the web enables us to learn about various styles and it allows for new ones to emerge.
It will be interesting to see how this young artist and his music continues evolve overtime, and inevitably his fans will follow.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The O.C. Register on Immigration
I was recently checking the good-old O.C. Register online news on immigration and I was sadden by a new bill being proposed by self-proclaimed Minuteman Assamblyman Tim Donnelly which resembles Arizona bill SB7010 which criminalizes undocumented immigrants.
One of the things that saddens me the most is the racist comments made by people who read the OC Register, like the one below:
"I think this is absolutely fantastic. I am so tired of all the Mexicans here. They come here for a better life but don't even have enough respect for this country to speak english. I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's because of all the Mexicans. And they call themselves Mexican Americans. That's disgusting. It's about time we did something about this. We need to take America back! Not everyone will like my comment but we all are entitled to our opinions."
This made me think, you are in Southern California and yet you are tired of all the Mexicans here?
Newsflash, Mexicans have been here for longer than you have buddy! Additionally, this person is lumping all Mexicans into one so-call "race" as though they can be homogenous and visually identified.
Another comment came from a "Betty Crocker" like woman who stated the following:
"This is some of the best news I have heard in a long time!!
We really need to get the illegals out of California. We are totally broke and can ill afford services for illegal immigrants wherever they snuck in from"
This woman is completely ignoring the fact that our economy is the way it is now, not because of undocumented immigrants but because of the poor/selfish choices our politicians have made the past years, and the result of unregulated capitalism.
Check out the article and maybe make a comment http://www.ocregister.com/news/bill-286334-san-california.html
One of the things that saddens me the most is the racist comments made by people who read the OC Register, like the one below:
"I think this is absolutely fantastic. I am so tired of all the Mexicans here. They come here for a better life but don't even have enough respect for this country to speak english. I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's because of all the Mexicans. And they call themselves Mexican Americans. That's disgusting. It's about time we did something about this. We need to take America back! Not everyone will like my comment but we all are entitled to our opinions."
This made me think, you are in Southern California and yet you are tired of all the Mexicans here?
Newsflash, Mexicans have been here for longer than you have buddy! Additionally, this person is lumping all Mexicans into one so-call "race" as though they can be homogenous and visually identified.
Another comment came from a "Betty Crocker" like woman who stated the following:
"This is some of the best news I have heard in a long time!!
We really need to get the illegals out of California. We are totally broke and can ill afford services for illegal immigrants wherever they snuck in from"
This woman is completely ignoring the fact that our economy is the way it is now, not because of undocumented immigrants but because of the poor/selfish choices our politicians have made the past years, and the result of unregulated capitalism.
Check out the article and maybe make a comment http://www.ocregister.com/news/bill-286334-san-california.html
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