Zapotec Renaissance: Ethnic Politics and Cultural Revivalism in Southern Mexico

The Zapotec people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico have defied stereotypes of poor, downtrodden, and exploited Mexican Indians by creating one of the most dynamic indigenous political and cultural movements in Latin America.

Intensely proud of their history and culture, the Isthmus Zapotecs control many local political offices, run much of the local commerce, and enjoy a lively cultural movement. To a larger degree than is common in Mexico, Zapotec women enjoy equality with men and homosexuality is tolerated and accepted. The Zapotecs have formed a radical indigenous political movement--Coalicion Obrera Campesina Estudiantil del Istmo (COCEI)--whose victory in the 1981 municipal elections in Juchitan, Oaxaca, over the seemingly invincible Revolutionalry Institutional Party (PRI) marked the first time the leftist opposition had controlled a Mexican city since the Revolution.

This book is about their history--both past and present--and how it is remembered, drawn upon, and created by contemporary Zapotec intellectuals and politicians and used as a weapon to organize the Zapotec people and to wrest control of their community from PRI.