Description
Book SynopsisAnalyses how Indigenous women's migration contributes to women's empowerment in their home communities in Guatemala. This decolonial ethnographic analysis of Kaqchikel Maya women's linguistic and cultural activism demonstrates that marginalized people can and do experience empowerment and hope for the future of their communities.
Trade Review“Bennett gives a unique and intimate look into the lives of Maya women activists and their fight to preserve Maya cultural and linguistic values in their rapidly globalizing communities.
Good Maya Women makes several original contributions: first, it is multilingual, representing the voices of the Kaqchikel women whose lives she presents in their own words and in their own language; second, it looks at woman as the agents of cultural preservation and change, highlighting their power and unique status in their communities; finally, it considers how Maya communities resist and accommodate globalization.” —S. Ashley Kistler, editor of
Faces of Resistance: Maya Heroes, Power, and Identity“Bennett deftly weaves together the words of the good Maya women that she interviews with cutting-edge sociolinguistic theories of identity, indexicality, intersectionality, and enregisterment, while engaging with wider discourses of glocalization and neoliberalism. Bennett’s fluency in the Kaqchikel Maya language and long-term engagement with these communities allows the women’s voices to shine through brightly.”—Judith M. Maxwell, coauthor of
La ütz awäch?: Introduction to Kaqchikel Maya Language“Maya women have been variously portrayed as valiant heroes conserving traditional dress and language, as tragic victims of the double discrimination faced by Indigenous peoples and women, and as iconic symbols of Guatemalan tourism brochures and souvenir markets. In this remarkable book, Bennett uses her extensive knowledge of Kaqchikel Mayan to uncover the nuances and complexities of what it means to be a ‘good’ Maya woman. Focusing on the discourse of return migrants, this book builds an understanding of Maya women from their lived experience and the back and forth of social interactions. Bennett uses this perspective to interrogate developmentalist views of empowerment and Western traditions of feminism in novel and productive ways. She provides a new and valuable view of Maya women in Guatemala, but also makes an important contribution to understanding the role of grassroots activists and intellectuals in cultural and political change.”—Edward F. Fischer, author of
The Good Life: Aspiration, Dignity, and the Anthropology of Wellbeing
