Maya after War: Conflict, Power, and Politics in Guatemala

236 Pages·2013·5.55 MB·English

by  Jennifer L. Burrell

Maya after War
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Maya after War
Conflict, Power, and Politics in Guatemala
By Jennifer L. BurreLL
University of Texas Press   Austin
Copyright © 2013 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2013
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♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of AnSi/niSO
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in-P ublication Data
Burrell, Jennifer L.
 Maya after war : conflict, power, and politics in Guatemala /
by Jennifer L. Burrell. — 1st ed.
  p.  cm.
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 iSBn 978-0-292-74567-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
 1. Mayas—Crimes against—Guatemala. 2. Mayas—Violence against—
Guatemala. 3. Social conflict—Guatemala. 4. Ethnic conflict—Guatemala.
5. Guatemala—Politics and government. 6. Guatemala—Race relations.
7. Guatemala—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
 f1435.3.C75B87 2013
 305.80097281—dc23 2012035821
doi:10.7560/745674
In memory of Ernest Dupuy
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. War and La Violencia in Todos Santos: Accounting for the Past 23
2. Localities in Conflict: Spaces and the Politics of Mapmaking 38
3. Histories and Silences 56
4. Reimagining Fiesta: Migration, Culture and Neoliberalism 86
5. After Lynching 115
6. Life and Death of a Rural Marero: Generations in Conflict 138
Epilogue: Waiting after War 164
Notes 169
Bibliography 185
Index 209
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Acknowledgments
In the Mam language of Todos Santos, be’, the path, is a central metaphor
for movement through the joys, obstacles, hardships, and digressions of
life. Tuj be’ te ‘uj, the path of this book, has been a long and circuitous one,
and I have traveled it only by accruing far more debts than I can acknowl-
edge here. Ch’jonta tey tuj tnom.
Todosanteros shared their lives, stories, histories, and experiences with
me, and I can never adequately thank them for this. I deeply admire their
struggles for identity and community, and their insistence on the cen-
trality of these things. In lieu of thanking individuals, I thank the many
people who are friends, family, colleagues, teachers, students, and advo-
cates who have shared lives, dreams, visions, and much else with me. It
is an honor to have developed such deeply rooted relationships with you
and to now share these across generations. Thanks and gratitude to the
participants of the mapmaking workshop (and to their parents for facili-
tating after- school participation); to the translation team and to those
who attended the history workshops. And thanks to all the people I knew
as children in Todos Santos, who are now graduating from high schools
and universities in Guatemala and the United States, setting off on your
own life adventures. It’s most delightful to be connected to you!
Resident turistas and antropólogos of various generations shared local
news, history, experiences, and chisme from various perspectives. Thanks
to Laurel Bossen, Cory Lockhart (and Shannon, Bob, and Dottie), David
Salomon, Stacia Shiffler, Summer Sands, Jim ‘el ti’j’ Robinson, Carolina
Gallant, Jacqui Clark, Katinka Hoeg, Adriana Dingman, Emma Reuter,
Peter Chase, Olivia Carrescia, Deborah Clearman, Becca Young, Anne-
mieke Kroone, Gavin Weston, and Ellen Sharp. Frank Taylor’s friend-