Mayas in Postwar Guatemala: Harvest of Violence Revisited

231 Pages·2009·1.265 MB·English

by  Walter E. Little, Timothy J. Smith

Mayas in Postwar Guatemala
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES
J. Anthony Paredes, Series Editor
Mayas in
Postwar Guatemala
Harvest of Violence Revisited
Edited by Walter E. Little and Timothy J. Smith
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2009
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: ACaslon
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mayas in postwar Guatemala : harvest of violence revisited / edited by Walter E. Little and
Timothy J. Smith.
p. cm. — (Contemporary American Indian studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1655-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-5536-4 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8243-8 (electronic : alk. paper) 1. Mayas—Guatemala—Politics
and government. 2. Mayas—Crimes against—Guatemala. 3. Mayas—Guatemala—
Government relations. 4. Guatemala—History—1945–1985. 5. Guatemala—History—
1985– I. Little, Walter E., 1963– II. Smith, Timothy J.
F1435.3.P7M38 2009
305.897′420728109049—dc22
2008039549
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction: Revisiting Harvest of Violence in Postwar Guatemala
Walter E. Little 1
1. Democracy Is Dissent: Political Confrontations and Indigenous
Mobilization in Sololá
Timothy J. Smith 16
2. Reviving Our Spirits: Revelation, Re-encuentro, and Retroceso in Post–
Peace Accords Verapaz
Abigail E. Adams 30
3. Peace under Fire: Understanding Evangelical Resistance to the Peace
Process in a Postwar Guatemalan Town
J. Jailey Philpot-Munson 42
4. Living and Selling in the “New Violence” of Guatemala
Walter E. Little 54
5. Everyday Violence of Exclusion: Women in Precarious Neighborhoods
of Guatemala City
Liliana Goldín and Brenda Rosenbaum 67
6. Bilingual Bicultural Education: Best Intentions across a Cultural Divide
Judith M. Maxwell 84
7. Intergenerational Confl ict in the Postwar Era
Jennifer L. Burrell 96
8. Desires and Imagination: The Economy of Humanitarianism in
Guatemala
José Oscar Barrera Nuñez 110
vi / Contents
9. Everyday Politics in a K’iche’ Village of Totonicapán, Guatemala
Barbara Bocek 124
10. Fried Chicken or Pop? Redefi ning Development and Ethnicity in
Totonicapán
Monica DeHart 139
11. Neoliberal Violence: Social Suffering in Guatemala’s Postwar Era
Peter Benson and Edward F. Fischer 151
12. Harvest of Conviction: Solidarity in Guatemalan Scholarship, 1988–2008
David Stoll 167
Conclusions
Robert M. Carmack 181
References 195
List of Contributors 213
Index 217
Illustrations
1. Guatemalan political divisions at department level 10
2. Major Guatemalan roads, cities, and towns 11
3. Mayan language areas referred to in the text 12
4. Trabajando en el campo and Mujer tejiendo un mundo mejor 13
5. Cantar al señor and Traje pueblo San Antonio Palópo Guatemala 14
6. El joven Maya cortando la leña and El joven Maya caminando cargando
el palo 14
7. Traje pueblo Sololá and El joven Maya caminando el templo 15
8. El abuelo lee la Prensa Libre and Apostol Pedro predicando palabra
de Díos 15
9. Calming down the masses at second election protest in Sololá,
December 2001 17
10. The evangelical message in Guatemala fi nds unique media in Nebaj 43
11. Mayan street vendors defend one of their peers from Tourism Police
intimidation in Antigua, July 2005 55
12. La Esperanza from the roof of UPAVIM in Guatemala City 69
13. Main Street, Todos Santos Cuchumatán, July 2006 97
14. Mayas gather for a religious procession in Tierra Blanca 125
15. The Cooperation for Rural Development of the West logo 142
16. Youths hang out in front of a store in Tecpán 152
17. Amajchel reunion on May 12, 1994 168

Mayas in Postwar Guatemala