In his reflections on decolonization and post-development, Gustavo Esteva forged a unique synthesis of critical theory and political economy. This book presents more than half a century of "reflection in action" in the form of essays, books, and interventions in national and international forums and newspaper articles-most published here for the very first time. It showcases Esteva's evolving thought on economic theory, social change, revolutionary subjectivity, transition, development, the challenges of a new era and personal and communal autonomy, all associated with the challenges and advances in the construction of a new society. Through this translation, Esteva's writings engage with many of the important cultural and political debates of the present day and retain their power both to provoke and move the reader. Readers will see a thinker at work, formulating local, grassroots alternatives as they are emerging in Mexico and Latin America, with a keen sensibility to what happens in other regions of the world. Gustavo Esteva: A Critique of Development and Other Essays offers a lucid insight into the climatic and sociopolitical collapses we face and will be of interest to students and scholars of critical theory, post-colonial and de-colonial studies, and post-development studies.

In his reflections on decolonization and post-development, Gustavo Esteva forged a unique synthesis of critical theory and political economy. This book presents more than half a century of "reflection in action" in the form of essays, books, and interventions in national and international forums and newspaper articles-most published here for the very first time. It showcases Esteva's evolving thought on economic theory, social change, revolutionary subjectivity, transition, development, the challenges of a new era and personal and communal autonomy, all associated with the challenges and advances in the construction of a new society. Through this translation, Esteva's writings engage with many of the important cultural and political debates of the present day and retain their power both to provoke and move the reader. Readers will see a thinker at work, formulating local, grassroots alternatives as they are emerging in Mexico and Latin America, with a keen sensibility to what happens in other regions of the world. Gustavo Esteva: A Critique of Development and Other Essays offers a lucid insight into the climatic and sociopolitical collapses we face and will be of interest to students and scholars of critical theory, post-colonial and de-colonial studies, and post-development studies.

On January 20, 1949 US President Harry S. Truman officially opened the era of development. On that day, over one half of the people of the world were defined as "underdeveloped" and they have stayed that way ever since. This book explains the origins of development and underdevelopment and shows how poorly we understand these two terms. It offers a new vision for development, demystifying the statistics that international organizations use to measure development and introducing the alternative concept of buen vivir: the state of living well. The authors argue that it is possible for everyone on the planet to live well, but only if we learn to live as communities rather than as individuals and to nurture our respective commons. Scholars and students of global development studies are well-aware that development is a difficult concept. This thought-provoking book offers them advice for the future of development studies and hope for the future of humankind.

On January 20, 1949 US President Harry S. Truman officially opened the era of development. On that day, over one half of the people of the world were defined as "underdeveloped" and they have stayed that way ever since. This book explains the origins of development and underdevelopment and shows how poorly we understand these two terms. It offers a new vision for development, demystifying the statistics that international organizations use to measure development and introducing the alternative concept of buen vivir: the state of living well. The authors argue that it is possible for everyone on the planet to live well, but only if we learn to live as communities rather than as individuals and to nurture our respective commons. Scholars and students of global development studies are well-aware that development is a difficult concept. This thought-provoking book offers them advice for the future of development studies and hope for the future of humankind.

The dramatic January 1, 1994, emergence of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico, brought the state's indigenous peoples to the attention of the international community. Yet indigenous peoples in Chiapas had been politically active and organized for years prior to the uprising. This compelling volume examines in detail these local and regional histories of power and resistance, powerfully bolstered by gripping and heartrending details of oppression and opposition. Situated broadly within the field of political anthropology, the authors trace the connections between indigenous culture and indigenous resistance. Their case studies include the Tzotzils and Tzeltals of the highland region, the Tojolabals of eastern Chiapas, northern Ch'ol communities, the Mams of eastern and southeastern Chiapas, and the settler communities of the Lacandon rain forest. In the wake of the Chiapas rebellion, all of these groups have increasingly come together around common goals, the most important of which is autonomy. Three essays focus specifically on the issue of Indian autonomy in both Zapatista and non-Zapatista communities. Offering a consistent and cohesive vision of the complex evolution of a region and its many cultures and histories, this work is a fundamental source for understanding key issues in nation building. In a unique collaboration, the book brings together recognized authorities who have worked in Chiapas for decades, many linking scholarship with social and political activism. Their combined perspectives, many previously unavailable in English, make this volume the most authoritative, richly detailed, and authentic work available on the people behind the Zapatista movement."

The Midnight Notes Collective looks here not only at Mexico's Zapatista revolution directly, but also at its enlightening and heating effects on the new social struggles elsewhere (in Canada, India, Yugoslavia, the United States) against the latest forms of capitalism, "neo-liberalism" and "globalization."This book aims to provide a special slant of light illuminating the slow and often unconscious formation of an "anti-globalization" movement - a movement confronting a collective body of social capital rapidly and self-consciously operating on a global level in the last decades - and creating what the Zapatistas call "the Fourth World War."

With the publication of this remarkable book in 1998, Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash instigated a complete, epistemological rupture. Grassroots Post-modernism resolutely attacks the three sacred cows of modernity - the idea, entrenched in globalisation, that there is only one, universally valid way of understanding social reality; the exclusive and general validity of Western-defined notions of 'human'; and the notion of the self-sufficient individual, as opposed to people-in-community - that have so grotesquely warped hour view of the human condition. Rejecting the terminology and constructs of development in all its forms, Esteva and Prakash argue that even alternative development prescriptions deprive the people of control over their own lives, shifting this control to bureaucrats, technocrats, and educators. Rather than presuming that human progress fits some predetermined mold, leading toward an increasing homogenization of cultures and life styles, the authors argue for a 'radical pluralism' that honours and nurtures distinctive cultural variety and enables many paths to the realization of self-defined aspirations.This classic text is essential reading for those looking beyond Neoliberalism, the gobal project and the individual self.

The dramatic January 1, 1994, emergence of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico, brought the state's indigenous peoples to the attention of the international community. Yet indigenous peoples in Chiapas had been politically active and organized for years prior to the uprising. This compelling volume examines in detail these local and regional histories of power and resistance, powerfully bolstered by gripping and heartrending details of oppression and opposition. Situated broadly within the field of political anthropology, the authors trace the connections between indigenous culture and indigenous resistance. Their case studies include the Tzotzils and Tzeltals of the highland region, the Tojolabals of eastern Chiapas, northern Ch'ol communities, the Mams of eastern and southeastern Chiapas, and the settler communities of the Lacandon rain forest. In the wake of the Chiapas rebellion, all of these groups have increasingly come together around common goals, the most important of which is autonomy. Three essays focus specifically on the issue of Indian autonomy_in both Zapatista and non-Zapatista communities. Offering a consistent and cohesive vision of the complex evolution of a region and its many cultures and histories, this work is a fundamental source for understanding key issues in nation building. In a unique collaboration, the book brings together recognized authorities who have worked in Chiapas for decades, many linking scholarship with social and political activism. Their combined perspectives, many previously unavailable in English, make this volume the most authoritative, richly detailed, and authentic work available on the people behind the Zapatista movement.