RELIABLE RESOURCES

Academic Treatments: The following is a select list of academic publications which focus on the Zapotec weavers of Teotitlán, Santa Ana, and San Miguel (as well as Díaz Ordaz).   Because they are academic publications, unlike popular treatments they and the scientific research upon which they are based is subject to review by experts in the field.  They are your best resource for reliable and accurate information about the Zapotec, their history and culture, as well as their textiles and their techniques of manufacture.

Cohen, J. H.

 "Markets Museums, and Modes of Production: Economic Strategies in Two Zapotec Weaving Communities of Oaxaca, Mexico." Society for Economic Anthropology Newsletter 9 (Spring, 1990):12-29.

Cooperation and Community: Economic Change in Southern Mexico.  Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1994.

"Popular Participation and Civil Society: The Shan-Dany Museum and the Construction of Community in Mexico." Practicing Anthropology 19 (Summer, 1997):36-40.

"Craft Production and the Challenge of the Global Market: An Artisan's Cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico."  Human Organization 57 (Winter, 1998):74-82.

"The Artisan's Society of Santa Ana del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico: Household Competition and Cooperative Management."  In D.B. Small and N. Tannenbaum, eds.  At the Interface: The Household and Beyond.  Lanham: University Press of America, 1999.

Cooperation and Community: Economy and Society in Oaxaca.  Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.

Popelka, C. A.

Profiles of Successful Textile Entrepreneurs in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico.  Ph.D. dissertation, Iowa State University.

Taylor, R. B.

 Teotitlán del Valle: A Typical Mesoamerican Community.  Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon, 1960.

Stephen, L.

 Weaving Changes:  Economic Development and Gender Roles In Zapotec Ritual and Production.  Ph.D. dissertation, Brandeis University, 1987.

"Zapotec Weavers of Oaxaca: Development and Community Control."  Cultural Survival Quarterly 11 (Spring 1987):46-48.

"Export Markets and Their Effects on Indigenous Craft Production: The Case of the Weavers of Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico."  In M. Scheville, J. C. Berko, and E. B. Dwyer, eds. Textile Traditions of Mesoamerica and the Andes: An Anthology.  New York: Garland Press, 1991.

Zapotec Women.  Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.

"Weaving in the Fast Lane: Class, Ethnicity, and Gender in Zapotec Craft Commercialization."  In J. Nash, ed. Crafts in the World Market: The Impact of Global Exchange on Middle American Artisans.  Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.

Vargas-Baron, E. A.

Development and Change of Rural Artisanry: Weaving Industries of the Oaxaca Valley, Mexico.  Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1968.

Wood, W. W.

 To Learn Weaving Below the Rock:  Making Zapotec Textiles and Artisans in Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico.  Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997.

"Flexible Production, Households, and Fieldwork: Multisited Zapotec Weavers in the Era of Late Capitalism." Ethnology 39 (Spring, 2000): 133-148.

"Stories from the Field, Handicraft Production, and Mexican National Patrimony: A Lesson in Translocality from B. Traven."Ethnology 39 (Summer, 2000):183-203.

"The 'Invasion' of Zapotec Textiles: Indian Art 'Made in Mexico' and The Indian Arts and Crafts Act."  In S. Jirousek, ed.  Approaching Textiles, Varying Viewpoints.  Washington: Textile Society of America, 2001.

"Rapport is Overrated: Southwestern Ethnic Art Dealers and Ethnographers in the Field."  Qualitative Inquiry 7(Fall, 2001):484-503.

Popular Treatments: In addition to a large number of travel pieces in nearly every major newspaper in the United States and mention in most major guide books for Mexico, the following publications also focus on Zapotec weavers, their textiles, and techniques of manufacture.

Auger, H.

Zapotec.  Garden City: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1954.

Fischgrund Stanton, A.

Zapotec Weavers of Teotitlán. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2000.

Hall, J.

Mexican Tapestry Weaving. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 1976.

Peden, M. S. and C. Patterson

Out of the Volcano: Portraits of Contemporary Mexican Artists.  Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.