e-(re)volution: Zapatistas and the Emancipatory Internet

Abstract

Thirty years after his article, Enzensberger’s vision of the emancipatory potential of two-way communication is being realized in the revolutionary struggles of the Zapatistas in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas. This essays argues that despite the rapidly mounting corporate and state control of the Internet, it still has the potential as a tool for emancipatory revolution. After a brief examination of the history of the Zapatistas, this essay examines the potential of and limitations on this medium through the lens of this revolutionary group.