Naming the Other Campaign
> This political subject has had several names: ‘citizen’, for example, in the sense the French
> Revolution gives to the word; there is also ‘professional revolutionary’ and ‘grassroots
> activist’. Without a doubt, we live in a time in which the name is in suspense, in a time when
> _this subject’s name must be found_.
>
>
— Badiou, ‘Philosophy and Politics’
For a while, though, I’ve been vaguely bandying around an idea for a name for our current political subject, a name which, in a sense, stands in a tradition which begins with ‘Citizen’ and continues with ‘Comrade’. Wouldn’t it be a fine tribute to the Zapatista practice of commanding by obeying to refer to everyone (or everyone on our side, rather) as ‘Commandanta’? The Zapatista rebellion began almost twelve years ago and shows no sign of ceasing, in Mexico (where it continues to expand with The Other Campaign) or elsewhere.
Hopefully, Commandante Geo will post more information on the Zapatistas’ new campaign, in which they remain, as Marcos once put it, “very otherly.”
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among other interesting names utilized by the zapatistas is their newish word for their autonomous communities. they used to be “aguascalientes” in reference to a meeting zapata called once upon a time. now, however, they are called “caracoles,” which literally means “snails” but which evidently has 200 meanings, one of which is the entryway to the heart…
Comment by geo @ 9/23/2005 8:26 am