Indigenous societies throughout Latin America are facing difficult
choices. After centuries of colonization, the ongoing struggle to
preserve communal knowledge, rituals, language, traditions, teaching and
learning practices has taken on even more significance in the
increasingly standardized world of globalization. For many indigenous
societies, protecting community-based customs has involved the rejection
of state-provided education, raising a series of interconnected issues
regarding autonomy, modernity and cultural sustainability.
In New World of Indigenous Resistance, these questions are approached
from multiple perspectives by means of an innovative exchange between
linguist and human rights advocate Noam Chomsky, and more than twenty
scholars, activists and educators from across the Americas.
Two interviews with Chomsky open the exchange with lessons from world
history, linguistics, economics and anti-authoritarian philosophy,
parallel histories of peoples worldwide who have resisted state power
while attempting to sustain or even revitalize community traditions. In
response to Chomsky's ideas, voices from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the United States and Uruguay dray from
their first-hand experience and scholarship, speaking to, with, and at
times against Chomsky's views. In a final interview Chomsky reflects
upon the commentaries; the result is a nuanced intellectual and
political exchange--a compelling conversation that offers a contemporary
vision of indigenous resistance, survival and hope.
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.--Midwest Book
Review
The key issue facing indigenous peoples as they gain new rights and
raise their profile within Latin America's newly democratic states is
how to reconcile the cultural inheritance that makes them indigenous
with forces that aim to tether them to national identities or unleash
upon them the corrosive acculturation implied by globalization. . . .
This collection of commentaries - framed by the wisdom of Noam
Chomsky--offers an excellent point of departure for the student
interested in addressing such questions. With a significant focus on
education, the writers address the thorny yet timeless issue of how to
reconcile the ancient with the modern. . . . If there is one theme that
emerges, it is of the potential for inter-communal co-operation and the
concrete benefits diversity can bring to Latin American social
life.--Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books
This book is unique, thought-provoking and inspiring. The voices
included in this edited collection, most of them unheard in mainstream
Western academia, not only denounce the crimes committed against
Indigenous peoples, but also reflect decades of Indigenous struggle,
resistance, hope and commitment. . . . This book speaks to students,
teachers, administrators and researchers from different disciplines and
invites them to work together and follow the exemplary struggles of
Indigenous peoples in different parts of America.--Teachers College
Record
