Componer y fragmentar la utopía comunitaria. Vivir la autonomía entre sueños y decepciones

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the practices, rules, hopes, and setbacks associated with building community autonomy in San Isidro de la Libertad, Chiapas, based on my own ethnographic experience and that of three young community members. Certain local practices lend political power to the project of autonomy, including milpa farming, saint celebrations, citizen assemblies, and shared family meals. The redefinition of these practices in a collective narrative of the past, present, and future of the town is an ongoing process that I refer to as the “utopianizing of traditional life.” These practices, in turn, give shape to the ideal subject of the community utopia, one who embodies hope but also reflects, provokes, and comes from multiple fragmentations.