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From: Nicholas Dronen <ndronen@xxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 12:57:56 -0600
Ferda Keskin wrote:
>
> What I find interesting, however, is your description of F. as "an
> obscure French philosopher." That he is French would certainly be no
> obstacle on using his ideas in local struggles as Marx (who is German)
> was and is used all over the world. That he is obscure must be your
> own personal judgement, for to many others he is more or less
> accessible!
But it must be agreed that it is odd for a troupe of supposedly
oppressed peasants from a not-so-cosmopolitan region of Mexico to claim
to be influenced by a philospher whose ideas are difficult to render
accurately into slogans and hence are not easily communicable to people
without much education.
Original reports on the Zapatistas suggested that Marcos may not
have been local to the region. Some thought that he was a foreigner.
The last I heard he was believed to be a school teacher from Mexico
City. The incongruity between the educational attainment of the
peasants and their use of an often-technical philosopher makes sense if
Marcos brought Foucault, so to speak, from Mexico City. Otherwise, the
fact is difficult to explain.
Nicholas
