Of Networks and Hierarchies

Pan-Mayanism and Ethnic Ambivalence in Guatemala

Bibliographic Data

ID2177900
AuthorsC J Mackenzie (0000-0001-8994-1605, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume5
Issue1
Pages27-52
Publication date2010-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-2222 • E-ISSN: 1744-2230
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17442220903506891
OpenAlexW2073816385
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited50

This article reviews the prospects of Maya cultural activism in light of challenges to ethnic politics that have emerged in Guatemala over the past 10 years. The focus is on two key events that illustrate these challenges: a national referendum held in 1999, when Guatemalans voted down constitutional reforms derived from the peace process – including several that sought to entrench a range of indigenous rights; and the failed 2007 presidential bid of the prominent international Maya activist Rigoberta Menchú. The analysis of both events from the perspective of a Maya community shows that, while national concerns influence local identities, the community remains an important referent for the success of broad-based political and ethnic projects. Different forms of power organization characterize pan-Mayanism (based on networks) and the state and community (based on hierarchies), and these differences help explain both the limits and success of Maya cultural activism. The restrictive logic of pan-Maya networks, especially concerning Maya ethnic pride and relations with the Ladino other, is met with ethnic ambivalence in mono-ethnic indigenous communities

Ambivalence · Democracy · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Geography · Indigenous · Indigenous rights · Maya · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Indigenous Cultures and History · Law · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Politics and Society in Latin America · Social Psychology

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