Globalization, Subsistence and Autonomy in the Struggle of the EZLN and the MST

Abstract

This article presents a comparison between the land struggle of the EZLN and MST, arguing that the social bases of these movements, from their specific contexts, reject the logic of the market and adopt coping strategies that focus on subsistence production. It finds that the struggle to gain and maintain access to land allows for territorial control that generates an autonomous popular power, which results in different political strategies, derived from practical experiences that the movements had with political parties and the state.