Methodological aspects of studying the phenomenon  of information civil warfare in social and humanitarian disciplines (a case study of the Zapatistas movement)

S. I. Chudinov

doi:10.20913/2618-7515-2021-1-23

Methodological aspects of studying the phenomenon of information civil warfare in social and humanitarian disciplines (a case study of the Zapatistas movement)

S. I. Chudinov

https://doi.org/10.20913/2618-7515-2021-1-23

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Abstract

A new era of information warfare was opened in the mid-1990s in low developed Mexican state of Chiapas with the Zapatista uprising (Zapatista Army of National Liberation). The article examines this movement as a unique case of modern information civil warfare, when the insurgent movement managed to turn defeat in the "hot" phase of the conflict into a victory in the information field, thereby demonstrating the possibility to confront the state repressive apparatus superior in physical force with asymmetric means of information and media campaign. The study objective is to consider the phenomenon of the Zapatista information civil war in the context of methodological aspects of integrating research material on this issue into the educational process within the framework of social and humanitarian disciplines taught students of the Information Security direction. The author takes the course "Humanitarian aspects of information security" as an example, and analyzes the issue about methodological ways, which make it possible to integrate a plot about a specific information guerrilla movement into the course theoretical part to reveal the problematics of fundamental (socio-ontological and sociocultural) aspects of the information war phenomenon at its present stage development. The paper shows various methodological ways of interpreting research material on confrontation between the Zapatistas and the Mexican political establishment in the information sphere. In particular, it reveals the possibilities of various conceptual approaches: the socio-philosophical theory of postmodern society; concept of "fluid modernity" by Z. Bauman, concept of "global risk society" by U. Beck, and theory of "informational society" by M. Castells. As a separate unique aspect of the Zapatista movement, the author considers the tactics of the information civil war in the form of the practice of modeling a media-semiotic image (Subcomandante Marcos).

Keywords

Zapatista Army of National Liberation, EZLN, information warfare, information civil warfare, information security, methodology of social and humanitarian education at university, course "Humanitarian aspects of information security",

About the Author

S. I. Chudinov

Siberian State University of Telecommunications and Information Science
Russian Federation

Sergey I. Chudinov – Candidate of Philosophic Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and History

86 Kirov str., Novosibirsk, 630102

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Supplementary files

For citation: Chudinov S.I. Methodological aspects of studying the phenomenon of information civil warfare in social and humanitarian disciplines (a case study of the Zapatistas movement). Professional education in the modern world. 2021;11(1):94-104. https://doi.org/10.20913/2618-7515-2021-1-23

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