John Ross' Zapatistas: Making Another World Possible, Chronicles of Resistance 2000-2006, provides an important and valuable history of the Zapatistas' actions since 2000. The book essentially functions as an extension of Ross' previous book, The War against Oblivion: The Zapatista Chronicles 1994-2000, expanding on his previous coverage of the Zapatistas and bringing it into the current era. Ross, who has followed and reported the Zapatistas since they rose up on January 1, 1994, provides a detailed and highly readable eyewitness account of the movement. Even to those who are not familiar with the Zapatistas' history and actions over the past twelve years, it is easy to jump right into Ross' account of the most recent period of the rebellion and understand immediately why the Zapatistas took up arms and how the Zapatistas have become a major influence on movements from the left around the world, especially in movements aimed at building alternatives to corporate globalization. Much of this influence--aside from the glamour that radicals in the west like to assign to brown-skinned radicals with guns--has come from the simple fact that while lots of us talk about autonomy, solidarity, and organizing "from below," the Zapatistas are actually doing it. They are defending their land, establishing alternative governing models, and attempting to organize the people who are forgotten in Mexico.

The period covered by Zapatistas, 2000 to 2006, was a period that marked a significant shift in the approach by the Zapatistas. While the period began with the prospect of the passage of an Indian rights law supported by Zapatistas, the Zapatistas and other indigenous peoples received yet another reminder that the government does not work for them. Despite massive mobilizations out of Chiapas to Mexico City as part of the "March of the People the Color of the Earth" and some support in Congress for the law, the government passed a bill that the Zapatistas refused to recognize or support, instead terming it "Indian wrongs." Following this experience, the Zapatistas engaged in considerable internal reflection and refocused their efforts on building autonomy, establishing new governing structures that aimed to be both responsive to the people and to make the Mexican government obsolete. As part of this work, the Zapatistas launched The Other Campaign in 2006, organizing an extensive tour of Mexico to communicate with all of the people "down below" about the prospect of building an anti-capitalist movement that could overthrow the government. Ross covers these events, relying on both his own direct experiences as well as consulting the statements of the Zapatistas and other relevant sources. All told, Ross assembles a comprehensive chronicle of the period.

The book ends with the period immediately after Mexico's July 2006 elections, when massive numbers of people took to the streets to protest the fraud that seemed likely to hand the presidency to Felipe Calderon. Reading the book now, it is clear that this is indeed what happened, but Ross' comments as the event were unfolding offer interpretations that seem consistent with how the Calderon presidency has functioned thus far. In the midst of confusion over the election, Ross wonders where the millions left out of the political system in Mexico will find their place--will they join the Zapatistas and the Other Campaign or will they establish a new movement. Either way, Ross concludes by writing that "the metabolism of revolution in Mexico is precisely timed. It seems to burst from the subterranean chambers every hundred years or so--1810; 1910; 2010?" As actions continue in Mexico, from the massive social uprising in Oaxaca to continued organizing by the Zapatistas, such a prediction seems plausible. For those of in the North, the central question raised by reading Ross' book is how can we act in solidarity with the Zapatistas and how can we build similar movements "from below" in the North? While the book gives no easy answer to these questions--and indeed could not--it is clear that learning from the Zapatistas, we must listen--listen to them, listen to those "down below," and listen to our hearts--and to always remember that another world is possible.

John Ross, Zapatistas: Making Another World Possible, Chronicles of Resistance 2000-2006, (Nation Books, 2006).