To See with Two Eyes: Peasant Activism& Indian Autonomy in Chiapas, Mexico.

Shannan L. Mattiace, Albuquerque:

University of New Mexico Press, 2003. 224

pp.

Howard CampbellUniversity of Texas-El Paso

Since January 1, 1994 the Zapatista uprising

has enthralled socially-conscious intellec-

tuals worldwide. Just when neoliberal poli-

cies seemed to reign supreme, indigenous

rebels took up arms against the Mexican

government. The academic attraction to

the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacio-

nal (EZLN) is understandable because the

Zapatista movement is the most significant

indigenous movement in Mexico since the

Revolution. However, studies of the EZLN

have sometimes lacked insight because of

the excessive partisan zeal of analysts. Ten

years later more complex,“objective” inter-

pretations are needed. To See with Two Eyes

makes some progress in this regard. Unfor-

tunately, Mattiace’s book also falls into the

trap of overstating the importance of the

Zapatista movement for the history of

Mexican indigenous people and social sci-

ence studies of rural Mexico. In the intro-

duction and first chapter, Mattiace depicts

a pre-Zapatista anthropology of Mexican

Indian people that was narrowly focused

on village community studies, until the ad-

vent of Marxist anthropology in the 1970s,

and a later debate between advocates of

primordial ethnicity and proponents of

class analysis. Then ¡zas!, the Zapatista re-

bellion occurred which “put a final nail in

the coffin of ethnicity and class-based the-

ories of Indian organization.” The result

was a new political panorama in which In-

dian ethnicity became a key issue on the

national scene as class ceased to be an im-

portant element of political organizing or

social science analysis. This oversimplifies

the complex history of the anthropology of

Mexico and overestimates the historical

role of Zapatismo.

Fortunately, Mattiace is more success-

ful in her interpretation of her own field

data. Mattiace has been working in Mexico

since 1988 and conducted field research in

Chiapas for her doctoral dissertation, the

basis for this book, during the conflicted

years of 1995 and 1996. Through a

smoothly written narrative, Mattiace pro-

vides a penetrating and nuanced analysis

of Mexican peasant organizations. Richly

textured ethnographic vignettes comple-

ment the more technical discussions of the

chapters. More of these vignettes, focused

specifically on the Tojolobal people would

have strengthened the book. In fact, unlike

some previous studies of Chiapas, this

book is too short rather than too long. I

was hoping to read much more about the

Tojolobals because they are a relatively un-

derstudied group.

Chapter three contains a solid analysis

of indigenista organizations created by the

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The Journal of Latin American Anthropology 9(1):000–000, copyright © 2004, American Anthropological Association

Reviews

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Mexican government. Chapter four, con-

cerned with Indian autonomy, helps illu-

minate on-the-ground political struggles

between indigenous people and state

forces in rural Chiapas. Chapter five in-

cludes a useful discussion of negotiations

between the EZLN and Mexican govern-

ment, and the possibilities of greater polit-

ical rights for native people. Vignette four

presents a fascinating account of struggles

for Indian women’s rights and their rela-

tionship to cultural values—although this

section is also too brief. The concluding

chapter makes an important contribution

to scholarship by comparing “ethnic au-

tonomy regimes” throughout Latin Amer-

ica. This higher-level analysis helps put the

impact and limitations of the EZLN in a

larger pan-American perspective.

Lacking from this work is an extended

treatment of how indigenous people and

non-indigenous people interact within

Mexican society generally, not just the po-

litical arena, although this is not a weak-

ness of the book per se. However, the need

to understand this issue will become in-

creasingly important in the future vis-à-vis

the prospects for success of indigenous

“autonomy” projects. To what extent do

such projects threaten or are perceived to

threaten the interests of “non-Indians”? In

footnote seven of the introduction, the au-

thor states that in Mexico “ the larger pub-

lic has typically perceived Indians as dirty,

lazy, and as impediments to national

progress.” But I would suggest that there is

much more ambivalence than this among

the Mexican people regarding lo indígena.

There may be considerable public support

for promotion of Indian languages, ar-

chaeological sites, customs, arts and crafts,

etc. but less support for indigenous politi-

cal aspirations. Accordingly, there may be

ways to create autonomy that do not fur-

ther polarize an already divided society.

Such projects will require much creative

thinking from all parties, as well as more

good will and serious willingness to nego-

tiate than the Mexican government has

demonstrated to date. In difficult eco-

nomic times, chances for government so-

lutions to the problems faced by Indian

people seem to be declining. Consequently,

the Zapatistas and other groups are seeking

their own independent solutions to ad-

verse economic, health, and social condi-

tions. To See with Two Eyes provides

insights into this process.

Mattiace’s book is more of a mosaic of

Chiapas political history, issues and events

than a narrowly focused study of one re-

gion. It would be a solid text for upper-di-

vision undergraduate or graduate level

courses in Latin American anthropology

or political science. I strongly recommend

the book with the caveats noted above.

Creole Transformation from Slavery toFreedom: Historical Archaeology of theEast End Community, St. John, VirginIslands. Douglas V. Armstrong, Gainesville,

University Press of Florida, 2003. 384 pp.

Paul FarnsworthLouisiana State University

Armstrong presents both the first definitive

archaeological study of a free Creole

Caribbean community, and a rare glimpse

of how such a culture emerged in the 19th

century from an 18th century plantation-

based society. The subject of the study is the

transformation of a community that occu-

pied the East End of the island of St. John in

the Virgin Islands from the 18th to the 20th

century. As such it is representative of the

changes that occurred in other parts of the

Caribbean (and beyond), although the spe-

200 The Jour nal of Latin Amer ican Anthrop olo g y

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