Political Community, Foundings and Indigenous Peoples. A Case Study of Chiapas' Lacandon Community

This book contributes to the understanding and conceptualisation of the place of indigenous peoples in contemporary political systems by presenting and examining a case study of the Comunidad Zona Lacandona (Lacandon Community or LC), located in Chiapas (Mexico). The author explores the concept of ‘political community’ in relation to such an indigenous community. The case study provides a foundation for understanding and conceptualising the constitutive elements of a political community: a people, a territorial base, and forms of social, cultural, economic and political organisation. To gain a deeper insight into the significance of concepts such as 'people', 'territory', and 'institutions', this book presents a conceptual framework for analysing indigenous peoples, nations, tribes and communities, with a particular focus on the principles of self-determination, autonomy, self-government and consent. The framework is based on the conceptual foundations established by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and emphasises the critical role of those four concepts.

Keywords: Lacandon Community, Chiapas, Zapatistas, Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights, Political Community, Land Reform

This monograph examines the creation and functioning of indigenous communities in Mexico, using the example of the Comunidad Zona Lacandona (LC) in the state of Chiapas – a relatively small region remote from the country's centre. This region, with extraordinary biodiversity and untouched by national colonisation until the end of the nineteenth century, is representative in all possible respects: legal-administrative, moral-ethical and definitional-conceptual. The author’s systematic, detailed and meticulous exposition attests to his exceptionally high competence.
From a review by Dr. Mariusz Kairski, University of Gdańsk

The author illustrates how a territorial and indigenous community functions in today’s world, showing how this community – one that is more cultural and ethnic, but partially also multi-ethnic, historical, and linguistic – adapts to the realities of life in Mexico and, in pursuing its interests, gradually transforms into a political community. The concise presentation of Mexico's ethnic policy ensures that the reader also gains a synthesised overview of actions taken towards the indigenous population.
From a review by Prof. Aleksander Posern-Zieliński, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

DR. HECTOR CALLEROS is a lecturer and researcher at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw. His research has focused on analysing political processes and social conflicts in which indigenous peoples are the main political actors.
He holds a degree in Political Science from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences (FCPyS) of Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM). He pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Hull through the Chevening academic exchange programme and later completed a PhD at the University of Leeds, funded by Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT).
As a qualitative researcher, Dr. Calleros has conducted fieldwork in the United States, Spain, Poland, Romania, Mexico and the United Kingdom. He has also engaged in archival research in Mexico, the UK and Spain. Additionally, as a visiting researcher, he has been hosted by universities in Romania, Czechia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Poland.