Defending Territory, Challenging Neoliberalism in Postwar Guatemala
Peaceful Resistance La Puya
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4866113 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Illmer (0000-0001-9983-8855, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 71-88 |
| Publication date | 2022-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Latin American Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-582X • E-ISSN: 1552-678X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0094582x221124540 |
| OpenAlex | W4297543255 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
Beyond the more spontaneous and reactive urban mass protests against corruption, the most sustained and explicit challenge to neoliberal policies in postwar Guatemala has been advanced by rural communities. As the case of Peaceful Resistance La Puya and its opposition to a mining project indicates, this form of agency has gone beyond indigenous territories to localized resistances in areas of mixed or primarily ladino population. A key factor in explaining the persistence of this process of defense of territory is the emphasis its members put on preserving the strong horizontal features of their locally rooted mobilizing structure. This has reinforced their antagonistic position toward the promoters of the mining project while encouraging the appropriation of the struggle among community members. Más allá de las masivas protestas urbanas de índole más espontáneo y reactivo contra la corrupción, el desafío más sostenido y explícito a las políticas neoliberales en la Guatemala de la posguerra ha sido aquel promovido por las comunidades rurales. Como indica el caso de Resistencia Pacífica La Puya y su oposición a un proyecto minero, esta forma de agencia ha trascendido los territorios indígenas para dar lugar a resistencias localizadas en áreas de población mixta o principalmente ladina. Un factor clave para explicar la persistencia de esta defensa del territorio es el énfasis que sus miembros ponen en preservar las fuertes características horizontales de su estructura de movilización, arraigada localmente. Esto ha reforzado su posición antagónica hacia los promotores del proyecto minero al tiempo que fomenta la apropiación de la lucha por miembros de la comunidad
Appropriation · Ethnology · Geography · Humanities · Indigenous · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Population · Resistance (ecology) · Sociology · Demography · International Development and Aid · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Water Governance and Infrastructure
Civil Society and Development
Introduction
Territories of Difference
Power in Movement
Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in Guatemala
Indigenous People's Struggles Against Transnational Mining Companies in Guatemala
Rethinking Extractive Industry
Transformations in Citizenship
The Guatemalan Campesino Movement and the Postconflict Neoliberal State
The Global Gold Mining Industry, Junior Firms, and Civil Society Resistance in Guatemala
Indigenous Movements and Their Critics
The Defence of Community in the Anti-Mining Movement of Guatemala
| Highly cited | No |
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