Description
Book SynopsisPresents an ethnographic account of Pan-Maya cultural activism. This book shows that Pan-Mayanism reflects diverse local, national, and international influences. It explores the movement's attempts to interweave these varied strands into political programs to promote human and cultural rights for Guatemala's indigenous majority.
Trade Review"Starting with an analysis of activism in one Mayan community, a Harvard anthropologist examines the role of indigenous intellectual and their influence in pormoting the rights of Guatemala's indigenous majority on local, national, and international levels."--Kenneth Maxwell, Foreign Affairs
Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsTranscription of Maya Languages and Personal NamesIntroduction: Democracy, Marginality, and Ethnic Resurgence31Pan-Mayanism and Its Critics on Left and Right332Coalitions and the Peace Process523In Dialogue: Maya Skeptics and One Anthropologist694Civil War: Enemies Without and Within865Narrating Survival through Eyewitness Testimony1136Interrogating Official History1327Finding Oneself in a Sixteenth-century Chronicle of Conquest1488"Each Mind Is a World": Person, Authority, and Community1639Indigenous Activism across Generations177Conclusions: Tracing the "Invisible Thread of Ethnicity"194App. 1Summary of the Accord on Identity and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples211App. 2Questions from the 1989 Maya Workshop Directed to Foreign Linguists215Glossary: Acronyms, Organizations, and Cultural Terms217Notes221Bibliography251Index281
