Description

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Compañeras is the untold story of women's involvement in the Zapatista movement, the indigenous rebellion that has inspired grassroots activists around the world for over two decades. Gathered here are the stories of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters who became guerilla insurgents and political leaders, educators and healers—who worked collectively to construct a new society of dignity and justice. Compañeras shows us how, after centuries of oppression, a few voices of dissent became a force of thousands, how a woman once confined to her kitchen rose to conduct peace negotiations with the Mexican government, and how hundreds of women overcame ingrained hardships to strengthen their communities from within.

About the Author

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HILARY KLEIN lived in Chiapas, Mexico, for several years, where she worked on projects in Zapatista communities. After she edited a book of Zapatista women’s testimonies to be circulated within their own villages, women within the movement suggested that Klein compile a similar book for an outside audience. Compañeras: Zapatista Women’s Stories was the result. Klein, a D.C. native, has been engaged in social justice work and community organizing for twenty years. She currently works at Make the Road New York, a membership-based organization that allies with immigrant and working-class communities to help them achieve dignity and justice.

Praise For…

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"A guiding light for a new generation of feminists and others who would challenge patriarchy, poverty, gender oppression, racism, and all the other inhumanities maintained by global capitalism." —Elaine Brown, Black Panther Party leader and author of A Taste of Power and The Condemnation of Little B

"Beautifully written, Compañeras is a story of love and courage that gives a new depth to our understanding of the Zapatista movement and resonates beyond Chiapas." —Silvia Federici, author of Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation

"Belongs on the bookshelves of social justice activists and scholars everywhere." —Chandra Talpade Mohanty, author of Feminism Without Borders

"Hilary Klein is a major talent and a welcome fresh voice." —Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Devil’s Highway

"Compañeras is a powerful testament to the collective vision and lucha of the Zapatista women. Here are the intimate stories of becoming politicized as mujeres—of taking risks, questioning everything, and rewriting history. This book is a guide for anyone who is trying to walk a new camino at the intersection of gender, class, and race struggles." —Daisy Hernández, author of Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism

"Full of gritty insights ... Compañeras is as moving as it is eye-opening." —Cynthia Enloe, author of Bananas, Beaches and Bases

"The most complete, well-documented, and moving work about the struggle of Zapatista women spanning twenty years and told from the indigenous communities of Chiapas’ own heart." —Guiomar Rovira, author of Mujeres de Maíz

"The perfect mix of good storytelling, careful documentation, and the sympathetic observation of someone who lived and worked among the Zapatistas for six years ... Reading Compañeras gives me hope." —Margaret Randall, author of Sandino’s Daughters Revisited and Che on My Mind

"This is a book that should be on every activist’s reading list, and in every social studies class." —Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing and Stuffed and Starved

"Klein has made a tremendous contribution to the world ... Compañeras would be a delight to use in college courses in Women’s Studies, Latin American Studies, Sociology, or Political Science." —Karen Kampwirth, author of Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas

"This is a book for women and men, for activists and for students, for survivors and world-changers, for the oppressed, the poor, and the precarious. Onwards compañeras y compañeros!" —Peter Linebaugh, author of Stop, Thief! The Commons, Enclosure, and Resistance

"Hilary Klein has provided us with the most beautiful gift ... I was beyond moved by this book. I love it. It is a tool for constructing freedom, by women, in the creation of new worlds." —Marina Sitrin, author of Everyday Revolutions: Horizontalism and Autonomy in Argentina