by Greg Grandin
First published 2000
In nineteenth-century Quetzaltenango, Mayan leaders face an impossible choice. They must maintain control over their indigenous communities while securing political influence among the non-Indian Ladino population. As Guatemala transforms into a coffee-driven economy, these patriarchs develop their own vision of race and nationhood that directly opposes Ladino ideas of assimilation and progress. Their alternative understanding of what Guatemala should become cannot survive in a country torn by class and ethnic divisions. When indigenous peasants begin demanding land rights in the years before the 1954 coup, the ruling elites respond with violence. Class conflict spirals beyond control. The Mayan leaders who once navigated between worlds find themselves caught in a struggle that will reshape Guatemala forever. Their efforts to balance tradition with political necessity reveal how ethnic identity and state power intertwine in ways that continue to influence the country today.
Genres: history, historical-fiction, 20th-century, anthropology, 19th-century, ethnic-studies, academic, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: class-conflict, ethnic-divisions, impossible-choices
Setting: Guatemala, Quetzaltenango
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
368 pages · Paperback · Duke University Press
Content warnings: colonialism, violence