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questioning the composition of the legal order,
the ‘right-based approach’ and the human rights
discourse. Furthermore, indigenous women are
reconstructing the meaning of autonomy and
self-determination from a female’s point of view.
As a minority group, indigenous women expose
the ‘gaps’ within the state and the communal legal
framework; they also demonstrate how the system
is male biased in relation to rights and respect for
women. The study cases used here depict the
complex situation in which indigenous women
are trying to address the collective aspiration
of the movement, while at the same time they are
concentrating on the struggle for their own rights.
Debra D. Chapman
Strategic, Opportunistic and Post-Electoral
Autonomy: A comparative analysis of three
cases from Mexico
Key Words: Zapatista, EZLN, autonomy, Mexico,
social movements, comparative
The inhabitants of Tlalnepantla, Morelos, Paracho,
Michoacan and the Zapatista communities in
Chiapas have been engaged in struggles for
autonomy during the past two year. Tlalnepantla’s
struggle was for recognition of their
democratically elected representatives following
the municipal elections in July, 2003. Paracho
engaged in a similar struggle following the
municipal elections in January 2005. The
Zapatista struggle for autonomy began with the
uprising on January 1, 1994 and became a reality
in September 2003. Their move to total
autonomy came in the wake of the government’s
defaulting on the signed accords following years
of negotiating. There are three things that make
these struggles notable: first, their approaches to
autonomy are very different, secondly, they receive
their funding from different sources, and, thirdly,
they are all interrelated. Thus Tlalnepantla and
Paracho continue to reap the benefits of
government programs whereas the Zapatistas
depend totally on non-governmental sources of
financing. I argue that the Zapatista approach is
unsustainable based on a comparison of the level
of support for the Zapatista struggle from
Canadian NGOs in 1994 and 2004.
Theoretically, the paper contributes to the
understanding of new social movements and
the struggle for autonomy within underdeveloped
countries under neo-liberal global imperatives.
Financing is only one issue of many that need
to be addressed; yet it is an important issue that
can potentially jeopardize the lives of many
innocent people.
Matias E. Margulis and Kristen Hopewell
The Comedores Populares: Responding
to Neoliberalism’s Legacy of Poverty
and Hunger in Argentina
Key Words: Argentina, comedores populares, food
insecurity, poverty, human rights, neoliberalism,
economic crisis
Neoliberalism in Argentina created an
unprecedented economic and social crisis,
resulting in massive poverty, widespread
unemployment and growing inequality. Although
Argentina is a major food producer and exporter,
many lack adequate access to food. During a
decade and a half of neoliberalism, hunger and
malnutrition have risen to unprecedented levels.
Food insecurity threatens the long-term life
outcomes of Argentina’s poor and the country’s
future prospects. This paper examines the
comedores populares (community, or popular,
dinning rooms) and their role in combating food
insecurity in Argentina. Food security and a rightsbased
approach to food are utilized to explore the
impacts of neoliberalism on Argentina’s poor. The
comedores populares have been successful in
reducing the short-term food insecurity of the
vulnerable people they serve. In addition, the
comedores populares create greater social
awareness of poverty and a sense of individual
empowerment in the face of immense social
exclusion. However, the comedores populares
alone are not an adequate or sustainable solution
to food insecurity in Argentina. A long-term
strategy to address the colossal scale of the food
insecurity and poverty faced by nearly 17 million
Povzetki ‡ Abstracts
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