The Death of Ramon Gonzalez and the 21st Century Dilemma

Environment. Cambridge: Harvard; Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2002. Globalization and Its Discontents. New York:
Norton; Jagdish Bhawati, 2004. In Defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford; Amartya Sen,
1999. Development and Freedom. Random House: New York. Many websites track globalization from a
perspective similar to the one presented here, among them, www.foodfirst.org
iii Many websites track globalization from a perspective similar to the one presented here.
www.foodfirst.org is one of these and offers multiple links to others.
iv To the many studies on the left, such as Sen and Stiglitz that emphasize growing inequalities, one can
contrast a series of World Bank studies in 2004 that maintain that inequality is not on the increase, (David
Dollar. “Globalization, poverty, and inequality since 1980.” WPS3333.) and World Bank studies that
recognize a complex array of inequalities balanced against advances in general welfare (Martin Ravallion
“Looking beyond averages in the trade and poverty debate.” WPS3461 and, anonymous, “Pro-growth, propoor:
is there a trade-off” WP3378) all Washington DC: World Bank.
v Of the many treatments of the Zapatistas, George Collier’s Basta: Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in
Chiapas stands out because of its sober judgments and historical depth based on the author’s more than
thirty years experience as an anthropological researcher in Chiapas. 1999. Oakland: Institute for Food and
Development Policy. For a focus on the issues treated here, see also Tom Barry, 1995. Zapata’s Revenge:
Free Trade and the Farm Crisis in Mexico. Boston: South End.
vi J.F. Hornbeck, 2004. NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies. Washington D.C.: Congressional
Research Service, Library of Congress.
vii A running account and analysis of these figures may be found at the website of The Environmental
Working Group, www.ewg.org
viii John. J. Audley, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Sandra Polaski, Scott Vaughan, 2004. NAFTA’s Promise
and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, ch. 1. Controversy over these figures and over the effect on migration is intense—my
confidence in the logic of the analysis presented in the first chapter of the Carnegie report is a judgment
based on the view that, a)the effect of Article 27 reforms should be combined with the effect of NAFTA as
they constitute part of the same neo-liberal initiative, b)it is unreasonable to believe that the massive
increase in corn imports has had a negligible effect on small-scale corn producers, c)the shift of investment
to irrigated agriculture that is agreed to have occurred because of NAFTA is bound to have had a
significant effect on producers without irrigation, d)arguing from many different lines of evidence, it is
clear that migration to the U.S. has increased significantly, in spite of its increased costs and risks, and e)I
am reluctant to completely dismiss the claims of peasants and migrants and their organizations in Mexico
that the effect is large. Hornbeck, cited above, disagrees and cites other studies that support his judgment.
ix Information on San Jeronimo up to August, 2004 is based on interviews and personal communications
from Michael Kearney and Carole Nagengast, who continue their long-term study of San Jeronimo.
x Based on my visits to coastal communities and informal interviews, January, 2000.
xi Sergio Zendejas and Pieter de Vries, 1995. Rural Transformations Seen from Below: Regional and Local
Perspectives from Western Mexico. Transformation of Rural Mexico, #8. La Jolla: Center for U.S.-
Mexican Studies, UCSD. Billie R. DeWalt, Martha W. Rees, with Arthur D. Murphy, 1994. The End of the
Agrarian Reform in Mexico: Past Lessons, Future Prospects. Transformation of Rural Mexico, #3. La
Jolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD.
xii Lynn Stephen, 2002. “In the Wake of the Zapatistas: U.S. Solidarity Work on Chiapas.” In David Brooks
and Jonathan Fox, eds., 2002. Cross Border Dialogues: U.S. Mexico Social Movement Networking. La
Jolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD.
xiii In addition to the work cited in the first edition, see Carole Nagengast and Michael Kearney, 1990.
“Mixtec Ethnicity, Social Identity, Political Consciousness, and Political Activism.” Latin American
Research Review 25, no. 2.
13 Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, 2004. Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States. La
Jolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD. Leah K. VanWey, Catherine Tucker, Eileen Diaz
Mcconnel, 2005. “Community Organization, Migration, and Remittances in Oaxaca.” Latin American
Research Review. V40, no.1, Feb.
xv Michael Kearney and Federico Besserer, 2004. “Oaxacan Government in Transnational Context.” Ch.17
in Fox and Rivera-Salgado.