Multicultural Projects in Guatemala: Identity Tensions and Everyday Ideologies

Mestizaje and the Significance of Phenotype in Guatemala

“…Currently, indigenous populations are collectively identified as Maya. 3 The term Maya became politically meaningful in the 1970s, and it was promoted by the Pan-Mayan movement in the 1990s as a common ethnic identity that attempted to unify indigenous Guatemalans across language divisions (Bastos 2012; Grandin 2000; Warren 1998). The Guatemalan Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples points to shared Mayan cultural roots in languages, values, history, and aesthetics as cohesive elements of the Maya ethnic identity while recognizing the diversity of indigenous populations (United Nations 1995).…”

“…By answering these questions, I aim to present quantitative evidence of the significance of phenotype in Guatemala, building on the work by Edward Telles and coauthors (Telles, Flores, and Urrea-Giraldo 2015; Telles and Steele 2012). Issues of ethnicity in Guatemala are commonly analyzed using frameworks that highlight the central role of Maya activism in promoting Mayan identification (e.g., Bastos 2012; Fischer 1999; Grandin 2000). The significance of phenotype is often disregarded as if ethnic characteristics typically associated with political claims sufficiently capture the complexities of Guatemalan ethnic and racial issues.…”

Politics and Pluralism in the Círculo Sagrado: the Scope and Limits of Pan-Indigenous Spirituality in Guatemala and Beyond

“…As Way (2016) has noted, following the fracturing of the Maya movement after the turn of the millennium, indigenous people have increasingly strengthened their involvement in municipal politics and, in particular, in localized resistance against a spate of extractive or otherwise environmentally disruptive development projects-mines and damns most prominently. To a certain extent, this return to the local to confront the global is an indirect consequence of the move towards decentralization that accompanied the country's sharp neoliberal turn in the 1990s, a turn which-as many observers have noted-both strengthened and eventually undermined the culturalist politics of pan-Mayanism (Bastos 2012;Hale 2006). A particular local institution-the alcaldía indígena or indigenous mayoralty-has, in the process, become one of the more potent expressions of indigenous politics in the country, often effectively combining issues of economic, environmental, and social justice with explicit Maya cultural demands.…”

“…While much of these protests and direct actions have taken place in indigenous communities, Maya Spirituality as such does not appear to have been a key driver in the representation of the struggle. While protesters and organizers may speak of BMother Earth^on occasion, given the limited Mayanization of most communities in Guatemala (Bastos 2012)-especially where Catholicism or Evangelical Christianity remain strong, if not unchallenged-it is unlikely that a purified indigenous religion will be a strong rallying point for concrete action. This is not to downplay the broader importance of Maya Spirituality and its related discourses and practices in terms of indigenous political and cultural struggles beyond the level of community-a point stressed by many scholars (MacNeill 2014;Althoff 2014;MacLeod 2011;MacKenzie 2016a).…”

“…193-196). Of course, as with other aspects of Maya cultural activism, many observers have noted that its strongest supporters are, indeed, among the urban, educated, and middle-class indigenous sectors (Bastos 2012). Promoters of Maya Spirituality, however, consistently seek to establish some sort of connection with actual communities to justify any spiritual (and increasingly, political) authority they claim at the national level and beyond (MacKenzie 2016a).…”