Zapotec Women: Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in Globalized Oaxaca by Lynn Stephen (review)

The Latin Americanist, Spring 2007 the failed attempt at mediation by representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS). Solaun concludes that the stubbornness of each faction contributed to the failure of a pacific settlement. For his part, Somoza did not recognize the depth of the opposition to him, believing that, as in the past, he would be able to out-maneuver his rivals. He refused any agreement that terminated his presidency before its constitutionally mandated end in 1981. Somoza also insisted that the National Guard be included in any government that succeeded him. In their efforts to bring about a settlement, the United States and the OASfocused upon the Freizte Anzplio Opositor (FAO) that largely represented Nicaragua’s upper classes. The FA0 insisted that Somoza first step down and leave the country before a new government could replace him. Each side refused to budge from its position. Initially, the United States gave minimal attention to the Frente Sandinista de Liberacidn Nacional (FSLN). Despite its fractured leadership, the FSLNs strength and confidence grew with time, prompting it to resist any compromise. In this atmosphere, Solaun concluded that only direct U.S. political intervention, a step that Carter refused to take, could have saved Nicaragua from the chaos that followed the collapse of the OAS mediation efforts in December 1978. A frustrated Solaun returned home in February 1979and five months after that the Somoza dynasty collapsed. While some may quarrel with Solaun’s interpretation, this is an important contribution to the historical literature because complete documentation at the US. National Archives and the Carter Presidential Library remain unavailable to researchers. Yet, Solaun’s rich detail reflects his use of material that goes far beyond the cable traffic found in The National Security Archive’s The Making of U.S. Policy: Nicaragua, 1978-1990. Thornas M. Leonard Universityof North Florida ZAPOTEC WOMEN: GENDER, CLASS, AND ETHNICITY IN GLOBALIZED OAXACA. BYLYNNSTEPHEN. DURHAM: DUKE UP, 2005, P. 408, $23.95. Lynn Stephen‘s second edition of Zapotec Women: Gender, Class, and Etlinicity in Globalized Oaxaca makes numerous contributions to her previous research by reshaping the focus and addressing contemporary influences on the artisan community of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. At the core of her research, Stephen highlights the ways in which ethnicity and class impose varying degrees of control over the labor process for merchants and weavers in this Mexican community. Through her detailed and thick descriptive approach, Stephen succeeds in constructing a strong connection between local, national, and global sites of exchange through the inclusion of local voices across generations. Stephen’s work illustrates key anthropological methods of research and provides important historical and contextual information to help educate 8 Book Reviews the reader on the complexities involved with her field site. The book is also enhanced by photographs, maps, and tables, which together make this work a well crafted example for students of ethnographic methods in various fields within the social sciences. The complex lifeof women in Teotitlan becomes apparent in the historical, cultural and economic context outlined by the author. Bridging gender and class issues, Stephen identifies three cultural institutions that impact women in this community: “respeto,or ritual-based authority; compr~7drazgo,or ritual kinship; and guelnguetza, or reciprocal exchange of goods and labor” (46). Scholars of gender issues will be particularly interested in Stephen’s analysis of each of these ritual-based institutions, which the author addresses through political, economic and cultural lenses with a specific emphasis on how they impact the power and resources of women in this community and create local constructions of gender. In particular, the history of cooperatives provides useful insight on their role in shaping identity for women in the community, as Stephen notes, “Because participation in cooperatives often leads women to leave home and community for meetings or to sell their goods, they are automatically challenging the gendered division of labor” (202). Stephen also unpacks the complex history of identity for indigenous people in Mexico by addressing the iizestiznjc complex and homogenized image of ”Indian culture.” She addresses how this history impacts local weavers on local, national, and international levels by providing concrete examples of textile marketing methods which illustrate how products move...