ABSTRACT
Since 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, the Zapatista movement has attracted considerable attention, in part because of the emergence of documents such as the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle (2005).1 Written by the mostly Mayan Zapatistas, this document advocates for social and environmental justice, Indigeneity, and coalition building; it imagines the construction of new, inclusive futures that raise questions about relationality amongst humans and nonhuman entities. The Declaration articulates a resistance to colonial and neoliberal systems of power that have shaped Mexico’s recent history, especially around issues dealing with the country’s most culturally valued food and crop, corn (maize).2 Even before NAFTA was signed, Mexico experienced turmoil and resistance within its citizenry, in large part because of governmental policies to dispossess Indigenous peoples from lands where they typically grew corn. The government implemented massive modernization programs aimed at reforming the Mexican economy (Beaucage 1998, 4).
