Liliana R. Goldin

An Expression of Cultural Change: Invisible Converts to Protestantism Among Highland Guatemala Mayas

The process of religious conversions to Protestantism is widespread and rapid in the underdeveloped world, and the numbers in Latin America are especially significant (Stoll 1990). It affects urban and rural peoples of varied cultural and ecological backgrounds. Often, major economic changes are either attributed or related to the significant ideological shift associated with religious conversion. The nature of the changes taking place as individuals or families convert is complex. In Latin America, and particularly in Guatemala, people may convert for reasons as varied as the popularity of a Protestant political leader (president Rios Mont), an earthquake, and the ongoing violence (Annis 1987). Nash (1960) found alcoholism to be one of the major reasons for conversions, and refers to Protestantism as the Alcoholics Anonymous of Maya Indians. Economic (Redfield 1962; Wasserstrom 1976; Brintnall 1979), political (Falla 1980), and social reasons (Reina and Schwartz 1974) have been cited as the basis for conversion to Protestantism in the area. Some scholars have pointed to the tendency of studies to provide limited attention to experience, discourse analysis, and other processes of identity change within which conversion may be understood (Heirich 1977; Snow and Machalek 1984; Taylor 1976). Historical accounts of Protestantisms introduction to Latin American countries (i.e., Garrard Burnett 1990; Stoll 1990; Rose and Brower 1990) elaborate on the type of discourse that different denominations use in their missionary enterprises, often through development or education projects. The association of economic development through progress and modernization with Protestantism has been explicit in the teachings of Protestant missionaries and writers (Dennis 1906) and the social and economic benefits of associating with Protestants is emphasized by numerous recent studies (e.g., Tapp 1989; Manning 1980; Green 1978). In the case of western Guatemala discussed below, the connections of trade, capitalization, and conversion are apparent. As suggested, the reasons for conversion are complex, and while their identification is important, so are the implications of the rapid change and the way in which it is taking place (Scotchmer 1986). The rate of religious change highlights the deeper changes that are taking place at all levels of society and may indirectly affect further changes. The impressive showing of Protestant candidates in the national elections of 1990 is significant, as it reflects the continuation of conservative trends within a framework of North American, free market, and modernization discourse in the midst of repression. The new political alliances often overlap with religious and economic interests that presently serve the interests of relatively few Mayan

The Rule of Law and the Enforcement of the Law Workers’ Understanding of Labor Rights in the Central Highlands of Guatemala

Research with hundreds of mostly indigenous Maya workers in the export processing plants (maquilas) of highland Guatemala has revealed a disconnect between working conditions in the factories, perceived rights, national and international labor laws, and law enforcement. Because of this disjunction, efforts to address the plight of workers must engage the complex conditions of the current labor regimes. Maquilas operate in contexts that are virtually exempt from regulation and conflate national and global orders, precluding a clear perspective on issues of rights and legal claims. In the new geographies of power, workers in transnational factories fall into the interstices between state and nonstate spaces and lose their rights and entitlements in the process. Investigaciones en torno a cientos de trabajadores, en su mayor parte indígenas mayas, en las maquilas del altiplano guatemalteco revelan profundas discrepancias entre las condiciones laborales en las fábricas, los derechos presuntamente establecidos, una gama de leyes nacionales e internacionales a las cuales se suscribe Guatemala, y los sistemas de tutela y aplicación de la ley. Dadas estas divergencias, cualquier esfuerzo por atender las condiciones de los trabajadores tiene que tomar en cuenta el complejo entorno de los actuales regímenes laborales. Las maquilas operan en contextos prácticamente exentos de regulación y entremezclan el orden nacional y global, impidiendo una visión clara sobre los derechos y reclamos legales. En las nuevas geografías de poder, los trabajadores de las fábricas transnacionales desaparecen en los intersticios entre el espacio estatal y espacios no estatales, dando lugar a una pérdida de derechos y situaciones vagas dentro del marco de la ley.

The ‘peace of the market’ in the midst of violence: A symbolic analysis of markets and exchange in western Guatemala*

The peasant markets of the western highlands of Guatemala present a field of public solidarity and constitute sources of sociocultural information. The information is expressed in the specific physical arrangements and in the types of interactions carried out in each context. The open, quasi festive plaza presents one model of and for behavior that corresponds to the traditional Indian conceptual framework, the public reunion strengthens the group solidarity and serves as a barrier against external aggression. The compartmentalized enclosed market, instead, follows and serves as a model which corresponds to Ladino conceptual guidelines, one which emphasizes the power of the product over the ethnic category as an organizational parameter. The traditional open plaza constitutes a communitas‐type framework where multiple interactions are peacefully conducted and the ‘Other’ is identified through the practice of bargaining.

Enduring Violence: Ladina Women's Lives in Guatemala (review)

has been suspected. More important, the cases demonstrate the virtual absence of male licensure, which Castilian law and its reform-minded champions prescribed for any woman seeking access to a court. In the vast majority of cases, Quiteiias appeared before the courts without claiming any formal permission (license) whatsoever from their husbands or other male guardians. The idea of male authority over women thus constituted a legal fiction.

Adherence to Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Protocols Among Indigenous Women of Western Guatemala

A qualitative study was conducted at a public hospital in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, to better understand sources of lack of patient adherence to medical protocols for treating Type 2 Diabetes in indigenous women. The sources included contextual, cultural, and psychological factors. Interviews were conducted with twenty-nine women and five physicians involved in care of diabetes patients in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Hospital Regional de Occidente. A communicate, motivate, facilitate (CMF) framework emerged from the data that is useful for identifying factors that can improve communication between patients and doctors, address motivation of patients to adhere to treatment protocols, and identify barriers that, when addressed, will facilitate the translation of high adherence motivation into actual adherence behaviors.

The Labor Topography of Central Highland Guatemala Youth: Employment Diversification, Health, and Education in the Context of Poverty

Abstract Purpose This study examines employment dynamics of youth in the central highlands of Guatemala. It is during late adolescence and early young adulthood that rural youth explore and settle into occupational structures that often define their economic lives and the region’s economic outlook. However, the occupational orientations of this group are poorly documented. Design/methodology/approach The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A three wave longitudinal design with six-month intervals was implemented. Households were identified using random sampling based on household maps. Two individuals per household were interviewed, a female adult and a younger woman/man between 15 and 25 years old in 451 households. In-depth interviews also were conducted with 25 individuals. Findings Youth occupational choices were associated not only with their health, income, and standing in their household, but also their self-image, sense of independence, and control. Nonfarm jobs were found to be most attractive to youth, who identify them as more “modern” and urban jobs. The study documents shifts from farm to nonfarm jobs, gender dynamics, the impact education has on jobs for youth, and health correlates of employment and unemployment. Originality/value Most characterizations of employment patterns in rural areas of Guatemala focus on the “head of household,” while overlooking the diverse job activities of other members of the household. The study not only addresses a population that is often understudied but also provides a longitudinal perspective to understand job switching and youth ideas of a “good” and “better” job.