This important collection of essays is compulsory reading for all those who wish to gain a better understanding of the dynamic processes of change which Mexico and its indigenous peoples have undergone. The book relates different experiences and makes various proposals relative to the issue of indigenous autonomy.

Contributions to the process of constructing a national proposal for autonomy are related. International and constitutional aspects of autonomy are analyzed. A feminine view is provided as well. Significant cases of local autonomy and the struggle of indigenous peoples and their resources and environment in the face of a mistaken and badly planned government policy for the infrastructural development are presented.

Finally, the situation in Chipas is discussed before Aracely Burguete Cal y Mayor closes the book with an analytical chapter on the new ethnic conformation of the highlands of Chipas and the San Cristobal de las Casas, as a contextual framework for the autonomous tendencies and indigenous empowerment of the region.