Los Caminos De La Resistencia: Comunidad, Politica E Historia Maya En Guatemala

Resumen del Libro

This dissertation is about Mayan peoples resistance and identity formation, particularly in Ixtahuacan, a Maya-Mam town in northwestern Guatemala. It focuses on a central paradox: that a notion of locality, including but not limited to the municipio or township, is deployed both as part of the processes that oppress the Maya and the processes through which Mayan people contest oppression and engage in collective self-affirmation. Building on 18 months of ethnographic research and theoretical perspectives of both Mayan and non-Mayan origins, I seek to resolve this paradox by delving into the varied and complex ways that Mam people respond to the myriad faces of oppression. In so doing, I propose to understand Mam struggles through what I call kojbil, which in the Mam language basically means community. I argue that kojbil is a window of inquiry that can lead us to a better understanding not just of the ways in which people resist but also the ways a new collective identity emerges. I first analyze Mam peoples political organizing experiences and the ways kojbil has been constructed historically. Second, I study the ways kojbil relates to Mam peoples own understanding of their collectivity as well as how this collectivity is constructed discursively. Third, I analyze the ways people talk about current crisis or threats to their kojbil, their collectivity and their well-being. Fourth, since a main part of this dissertation is about Mam peoples agency, I seek to further develop an understanding of who these actors are. I argue that in order to understand Mayan peoples struggles we must focus on voices from the margins that are rarely taken into account. And finally, I examine other cultural practices that are essential in the formation of kojbil. In particular, I focus on the poom which is fundamental to Mam spirituality and is the heart of Mam collective identity. This dissertation contributes to an understanding of how Mam people resist, and it takes…