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New World of Indigenous Resistance (City Lights Open Media)

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"New World of Indigenous Resistance" is a timely book that deserves a wide readership. Lois Meyer and Benjamin Maldonado have assembled a potent group of indigenous scholars and activists from throughout North, Central, and South America. They and Noam Chomsky carry out long distance correspondence through several interviews and subsequent responses. The topics could not be more crucial: neoliberal globalization, exported pedagogies, standardized testing, threats to original peoples' epistemologies and ways of living. As the voices of the indigenous scholars become central to the book, the extreme urgency of the issues becomes tangible. The scholars' personal experiences and expertise offer true hope in these dangerous times. Chomsky, Meyer and Maldonado deserve high praises for this work: it is timely, compelling, and essential for any educator's library.

New World of Indigenous Resistance is shaped as an essential dialogue that provides an unparalleled breadth of perspective regarding indigenous resistance in the Americas. The book's participants address a myriad of important and directly related issues such as nation-state building, decolonization, neoliberal policies, preservation of indigenous lifeways and many other timely and vital issues permeating quotidian life in the Americas for both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples alike. Most importantly, this book provides the space for important dialogue not only between scholars but also with those who are directly involved in resistance action. As the authors state, "The commentators in this volume were selected to reflect and honor both scholarship and direct action as equal and necessary paths to wisdom." The result is a fascinating and deep examination of core issues that moves beyond the typical hegemonic, Western perspective that unfortunately is all too common in the academic canon focused on the Americas. Instead, this book equally pairs real life experience vis-à-vis autobiographical accounts from "voices" from the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina and many places in between with that of the academic work conducted by scholars writing from an equally varied range of locations and viewpoints in the Western hemisphere. As a result, the book, itself, serves as an essential conduit of decolonization as it brings together a multitude of experiences, opinions and academic commentary in a manner that exudes the very framework of comunalidad (explained by the editors as "the principle and practices of communal life and the source of indigenous identity and resistance") that forms a core foundation for this book. Thus, this book is an imperative read for anyone interested in gaining a profound, more well-informed understanding of contemporary issues and indigenous resistance in the Americas. Such a careful, in-depth examination of indigenous experiences with and reactions to hegemonic nation-state systems, therefore, is well overdue and greatly appreciated, making this book a vital addition to any bookshelf. New World of Indigenous Resistance explicitly opens the way for an expanded and more authentic dialogue with indigenous peoples and advocates who have resisted and survived centuries of subjugation and oppression, and their voices deserve to be heard!

This was a good book, but much more limited in scope then the title and introduction implies. Basically, it is a collection of opinions of white scholars, or Indigenous people trained in Euro-western academic institutions, on Indigenous education. The theme is how to use Euro-western educational institutions and structures for carrying on Indigenous knowledge. Creating curriculum, using Indigenous languages, etc in Euro-western style classroom settings. It's an important issue, but they talk about it almost exclusively from a Euro-western perspective - as if Indigenous people don't already have methodologies for carrying on our knowledge.

Pretty much the only contributor who is really coming from a non-academia background, the only organic Indigenous leader included in the text is Felipe Quispe Huanca. He is also de-legitimized and brushed off at the end of the book for being 'over the top' or 'emotional.' His is the main perspective that comes from a traditional Indigenous paradigm and is accordingly ignored, while the echoing voices of academics are reinforced as more realistic, accurate, and appropriate. So if your interested in hearing what academics, anthropologists, ethnographers, etc think about Indigenous resistance today, read this book. If you want to know what Indigenous people are thinking about resistance today, or what we've always thought, this book doesn't really get into that. This book is about colonized people trying to help Indigenous people survive within the colonial framework - this book is not about Indigenous people resisting the colonial framework altogether and continuing on the struggle to retain and revitalize our own Indigenous worlds.

Sadly, by ignoring and even actively criticizing the Indigenous perspective that authentic resistance to the colonial paradigm is possible (and happening everyday), the book further asserts the fundamental 'manifest destiny' ideology of colonization. To them, colonization is inevitable, unstoppable, and our only hope at survival is in joining and reforming the colonial world. In my tribe, and apparently many others, we're taught that the colonial world is unsustainable and our only hope in survival comes in avoiding it as much as possible and awaiting its eventual downfall. The more we become a part of the colonial paradigm the more we are guaranteed not to survive. Just like they did with our landbases, our economies, our political structures, they are now trying to do with our knowledge - telling us that in order for it to continue we must colonize and institutionalize it. Of course, like in other historical cases, many will give in, but there are still those of us who do not.

This book is a useful collection of voices from one side of the discussion.

Linguist and human rights advocate Noam Chomsky and more than twenty scholars, activists, and educators of North and South America present New World of Indigenous Resistance, a thoughtful collection of writings concerning the difficult choices indigenous societies have faced, and continue to face, in a changing post-colonial world. Protecting indigenous community customs has, in some cases, led to the rejection of state-provided education - but is this truly a beneficial trade-off? How can tolerance be promoted while holding on to the values of communal rituals, language, traditions, and learning practices? Is it possible to retain the most distinctive and valuable aspects of a traditional culture in the wake of the overwhelming forces of globalization? Individual essays include "Indigenous Peoples Contesting State Nationalism and Corporate Globalism", "The Path of Decolonization", "U.S. Imperialism and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", and much more. Two direct interviews with Chomsky enhance this articulate examination of challenges facing indigenous peoples today, including a positive viewpoint of means by which indigenous cultures can resist total assimilation, endure and spread hope. Highly recommended.

"New World of Indigenous Resistance," by Lois Meyer and Benjamin Maldonado, has given us an opportune and important dialogue with Noam Chomsky and many activists and scholars from the Americas. I would like to contribute some thoughts as for this book. I was born and raised as a monolingual Spanish speaker in Ecuador. I was educated in an elite all-boys Catholic school until 8th grade. I knew that Ecuador and all the countries in America were multilingual and multicultural, but my world was surrounded by monolingual speakers who were not interested in knowing there historical heritage and thus creating within me a conflict of denying my roots. A conflict because I was not encouraged to know my past, my indigenous past.

This book, with its many contributors, brings a myriad of important and directly related issues to hegemonic resistance. These indigenous voices are central to this book. They and Noam Chomsky deliver a tangible message of true hope in these hazardous and death-defying times to our native brothers and sisters. Throughout this book, we read real life experiences which are an essential corporeal movement of decolonization. The framework of this book is the concept of comunalidad which is very foreign to most of us non-indigenous peoples. This new concept gave me a better understanding of indigenous experiences and their reactions to hegemonic systems currently in place.

This book moves beyond the typical hegemonic literary definition. It deals with issues of globalization in many areas which threat the origin of indigenous epistemologies and their ways of living. In sum, thank you for this dialogue that has consciously honor equally the wisdom that represents so many different peoples. As a current educator in the United States, I find this book to be filled with hope by taking action. It is essential to all of us non-indigenous peoples to look at our past and reflect. Just like Busquets (in this book) quotes an advice from a wise elder leader which could be applied for all of us: "You who live in the city, how do you live, and what value does your work have for you? "Why is it important that our families work united, helping one another? "Do you work with joy, satisfaction and liberty? "How do you resist selfishness and the power of individualism? "Do you know how to work in community? "How can we build a better future for our children?

Aymara Professor Carlos Mamani Condori, expounding the history of the Bolivian struggle of decolonization, wirites that "education has become a battlefield between those groups that seek to preserve the privileges of the colonizer language and indigenous peoples who push toward policies of interculturalidad and dialogues between civilizations and between systems of knowledge"

This book is a rare English source on the current indigenous political debate over Indigenous self-determination, especially in the field of education, which is perceived as the sphere where decolonization takes place. New World of Indigenous Resistance holds a space where twenty one indigenous leaders, representing Mesoamerica, the Andes and beyond, hold a virtual dialogue with Dr Noam Chomsky on the emerging and historical transfer of the control of education to the peoples themselves in order to achieve an aspired and unprecedented ethnic equality in Latin America.

Dr Chomsky expresses that the current Latin American integration makes it "the most exciting part of the world exciting in its modern history." He praises the 2005 Bolivian presidential Election of Evo Morales Ayma as a marvelous example of Democracy, as well as the massive Oaxacan teacher manifestations of 2006 as a corageous demand to re-shape education to the needs of the indigenous communities. As the indigenous majorities in Mesoamerica and the Andes lead the debate and the practice of Intercultural Bilingual Education, Chomsky reiterates its support for the multiple manifestations of locally or regionally run schooling.

The Oaxacan concept of Comunalidad as well as the Andean Ayllu are evoked and explained as the axes of this monumental change. The Zapotec Anthropologist Jaime Martínez Luna expresses that comunalidad "integrates diversity and reproduces it within collaborative forms of work and join construction". The realization is that the strongest form of ethnic and social resistance lies in the collective nature of indigenous peoples. Comunalidad is then a homegrown principle that directly confronts the ethnocidal individualism that has been forced through the now dated assimilitionist policies in the hemisphere.

Many countries in Latin America have embraced Intercultural Bilingual Education, which for the first time allows natives to design curricula that focuses on ancestral knowledge and the reinforcement of native languages. This educational project promotes a harmonic coexistence between peoples, where cultural diversity is fully acknowledged and a constructive dialogue between peoples is evoked as vital to the process of ethnic tolerance and harmony. In sum, New World of Indigenous Resistance re-affirms the necessary interdependence in well woven plurinational societies, while introducing twenty one active leaders in the Latin American decolonization process.

When is multiculturalism a bad thing? Could the answer have anything to do with literature? The new book, New World of Indigenous Resistance, examines this concept in a way that not only fascinates but educates.

The book focuses on South America's regions, and has a series of essays discussing issues that face an area largely unknown by those in the U.S. Usually we only hear of earthquakes or small regional clashes that mean nothing to us, but there's far more to explore. Author and historian Noam Chomsky discusses the essays featured as well as including his own thoughts on the complexities of the region. The South American continent is not simply a mass of Latino culture, but a huge collection of tribes and peoples. What happens there ultimately affects the rest of the world, and outside influences have been hugely detrimental to both the people and the land.

The primary problem faced is one of global corporations and governments arriving to extract resources, reestablish political boundaries, and ultimately combine the people into one more manageable mass. One essay, "Resistance and Cultural Work in Times of War," by Elsie Rockwell in Mexico discusses the nature of multiculturalism and how it doesn't benefit the native people at all. For example, international funding promotes a "intercultural" education that lumps all indigenous people into one category, then attempts to teach them in one, streamlined manner. This ignores their personal heritage and virtually eliminates it from the curriculum. Then, in an effort to offer variety under the guise of multiculturalism, they split the students into gifted, `special ed' and `migrant' groups. It is odd that the `migrant' students are actually lifetime residents of the same community where the school is located. Where exactly have they migrated from? Rockwell's primary assertion against this method is "the current economic order globalizes barbarism: it fabricates poverty, destroys nature, and militarizes other regions." The one-size-fits-all approach doesn't respect the distinct differences between the indigenous people, and thus their voice in art, music, and literature is also lost.

Another essay, "Beyond Education", by Gustavo Esteva in Mexico, examines the attitude of tolerance and its hidden agenda. He discusses how the US prides itself on being a melting pot of cultures, but this melting pot mentality actually just attempts to "to dissolve, each one of the multiple immigrant cultures." He asserts that the term "salad bowl" would be a more accurate and positive term, one that respects the individual heritage and culture behind native people and promotes such diversity. Thus, the literature and poetry of other places can continue to thrive instead of dying out. As the US gets involved in South America for mining and energy projects, they often use their influence and funds to promote a similar mentality. The problem is, this homogenization of culture also makes it far easier to exploit and manipulate the people within, and the authors of the essays are addressing such concerns.

Chomsky discusses this further in his interview, featured at the end of the book, where he explains that "the demeaning of others translates into subordination internal to the community. So war is the extreme case. You demean and demonize the enemy to the point where you want to destroy him, but you also accept that you are totally controlled at home. You subordinate yourself to your own state to try and destroy the enemy state, while they are subordinating themselves to their state." This attitude gives great power to a few large nations and the smaller die out. He applies this to literature when he states that "the main themes of the great antiwar novels after the First World War was the idiocy of essentially the same people in the trenches on both sides slaughtering each other, each committed to a power system that was oppressing them." Thus he concludes that rather than embracing oneness, a healthy respect for the individuals of other places, along with their culture and history, is good for everyone and provides a wealth of experience that enriches what we see and read.

This is an excellent book, as it provides important information on how indigenous communities -and their governments- are dealing with modernization and globalization in order to maintain their indigenous culture and traditions. The book is characterized by a continuous "debate" between Noam Chomsky, the interviewer (the person who interviews Noam Chomsky), and (indigenous) scholars/experts. It is important to point out the easy-to-understand language that is used in the book; this, without a doubt, makes the reading experience pleasant, which makes it very difficult to put the book down.

New World of Indigenous Resistance, edited by Lois Meyer and Benjamin Maldonado Alvarado, is a powerful and moving account of the struggle for self-determination. World-renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky provides insightful perspectives on the homogenizing effects of "western" educational practices on the Peoples of North, Central, and South America. Yet, as one quickly finds, Chomsky's distanced comments pale in comparison to the always respectful, but profoundly knowing reactions of indigenous educators and activists who are on the ground, struggling to provide an education appropriate for and in sync with the values, beliefs, customs, traditions, and practices of native communities. Comunalidad, a concept long erased from the Western European psyche and replaced with the dichotomous notions of ownership, independence, and dominance, is a force exceeding the boundaries of linguistic description that unifies, guides, educates, provides for, and protects indigenous communities. Only by reading the personal accounts, narratives, and scholarly commentaries contained in New World of Indigenous Resistance can one begin to understand the richness and empowerment embedded in comunalidad.

New World of Indigenous Resistance challenges taken for granted concepts, such as multiculturalism as veiled attempts by the dominant culture to commercialize blue corn tortillas and piñatas while surreptitiously inculcating individualistic and entrepreneurial values that tear at the very fabric of comunalidad.

For those who come from privilege, who have benefitted from colonization, it is easy to be convinced that indigenous struggles for survival and self-determination were fought and lost in centuries past. Meyer & Maldonado Alvarado, providing a conduit for the indigenous voices of the Americas, illustrate beyond any doubt that the native communities continue to live a dominated existence, yet because of and through comunalidad, find solidarity in the commitment to reclaim their communities for their communities.

This is not a book for indigenous Peoples only. It is a book for anyone who has colonized or been colonized, who has dominated or been dominated, who has controlled or been controlled, who has resisted or wanted to resist. In short, it is a must read for everyone.

New World of Indigenous Resistance is a "hemispheric conversation among equals." There are twenty-two essays by Latin American academics and practitioners gathered in this volume edited by Benjamin Maldonado and Lois Meyer. Each essay is a response to a series of interviews between Meyer, an American linguist with long experience in indigenous Mexico, and Noam Chomsky. The interviews originate with issues of indigenous education and social movements and examine many topics including state formation, new regionalism, and the neoliberal reign. Ever provocative, Chomsky situates the specifics of contemporary indigenous resistance within a broad and original historical framework.

The great service of the Meyer-Chomsky interviews is to present a rich menu of concepts and questions which the contributors probe. The treasures of this groundbreaking work are the twenty-two essays by indigenous scholars, activists, and educators from Mexico to Argentina. For most of the contributors, widely known in their own communities and countries, this is the first time their writings have been published in English. As Meyer, Kirwin, and Tooher note in their "open ended closing," this volume draws attention to the great dearth of indigenous voices present in the Western dialogue. It is both exasperating and thrilling "to encounter so many indigenous voices, perspectives and resilient resistance movements...about which we previously knew little or nothing."

The concept and curation of New World of Indigenous Resistance also merits praise. The range of voices across language, culture, and geography assembled by Maldonado and Meyer engaged in a translated (and re-translated), virtual dialogue, suggests a wonderful mezcla of globalism, technology, difference, and cultural regeneration. The form and content of these perspectives--personal, and communal, allied and contradictory--exemplifies the oft-cited Zapatista aspiration of "a world in which many worlds fit." Meyer and Maldonado have carved open a vital space for new voices and views on education, community, culture, and the environment. They call for a more inclusive dialogue and a new kind of intercultural exchange.