L'État guatémaltèque et les populations mayas : stratégies d'identifications ethniques négociées chez les Chuj (1821-2011)

Résumé 0

The Guatemalan State and Mayan Populations: Negotiated Strategies of Ethnic Identification among the Chuj (1821-2011) The history of Guatemala, today an intermediary space between North and Central America, is punctuated with outbursts of racial violence. Though the majority of its population is Indian, the state is not controlled by them, in contrast to Bolivia and Equator. By studying the case of this Central American democracy, one may thus identify variations in the political expression of ethnicity. Formerly a warzone and bordering Mexico, northwestern Guatemala became a zone of international migration. There, ethnicity is mobilized and used by political (parties, guerilla fighters, the army) and civilian actors alike. Since the late 19th century, the state’s relationship with the Chuj Indians has been marked by the establishment of the international border, policies of assimilation and violence inflicted on Indians. In the context of recent struggles to prevent multinationals from developing open pit mines, however, the reformulation of “Mayan” identity has been associated with the idea of environmental protection and the defense of Indian territories. ?