Shannon Speed

Who are the Chiapas?

"Rights in Rebellion" by Shannon Speed is her doctoral thesis on the discourse of human rights in the struggle for recognition and autonomy by the indigenous of the Chiapas and the Zapatista resistance movement against the neoliberal reforms of the Mexican government during the 1990s.

Speed attempts to navigate the slippery slope of politicized human rights in relation to the debate between natural law and legal positivism, universalism and relativism, and finally individual and the collective. These are all very tricky topics with no easy answers and Speed acknowledges that. Add in regional specificity and now you're really in deep.

Speed also delves into the effect of neoliberalization on the Chiapas and specifically the role of NGOs in replacing certain state responsibilities for social welfare. She also investigates the paternalistic aspect of NGOs and how they can be seen by the local populations as imperialist as they use the mantra of human rights to "modernize" the locals.

As this book is a doctoral thesis, it uses academic language necessarily. Anyone who works for an NGO or wants to learn more about the Zapatistas and what they represent should read this book.… (mais)