Indigenous Maya in Guatemala lived through one of Latin America’s most intense conflicts during the second part of the twentieth century. This research focuses on Maya politics, kinship relations, and interethnic experiences in multifarious mobilization through social democratic parties, rural unions, and cooperatives (1966-1974), and the intricacies of Maya indigenous participation in peasant organizations and insurgencies during the war escalation (1976–1982). This work reassesses Maya indigenous communal politics beyond Cold War dichotomies and situates the villages as central loci to grapple with the complexity of indigenous history during the Guatemalan war. Through research in Akateko, Kaqchikel, K’iche’, and Ixil territories, this work explores plantations’ territoriality and labor transformations, ground-rent expansion, and interethnic relations between Maya peoples and Ladinos. By using methods in ethno-cartography, photo-elucidation workshops, memory visits, chronology of the war, in-situ interviews and focus groups, and recently found historical archives, memoirs, and photos, this research reconstructs the stories of Maya communal politics and individual militancy from the standpoint of indigenous narratologies of the war. This dissertation reinterprets one of Latin America’s Cold War paradigmatic cases from the standpoint of indigenous villagers.
","abstract_html":"<p>Indigenous Maya in Guatemala lived through one of Latin America’s most intense conflicts during the second part of the twentieth century. This research focuses on Maya politics, kinship relations, and interethnic experiences in multifarious mobilization through social democratic parties, rural unions, and cooperatives (1966-1974), and the intricacies of Maya indigenous participation in peasant organizations and insurgencies during the war escalation (1976–1982). This work reassesses Maya indigenous communal politics beyond Cold War dichotomies and situates the villages as central loci to grapple with the complexity of indigenous history during the Guatemalan war. Through research in Akateko, Kaqchikel, K’iche’, and Ixil territories, this work explores plantations’ territoriality and labor transformations, ground-rent expansion, and interethnic relations between Maya peoples and Ladinos. By using methods in ethno-cartography, photo-elucidation workshops, memory visits, chronology of the war, in-situ interviews and focus groups, and recently found historical archives, memoirs, and photos, this research reconstructs the stories of Maya communal politics and individual militancy from the standpoint of indigenous narratologies of the war. This dissertation reinterprets one of Latin America’s Cold War paradigmatic cases from the standpoint of indigenous villagers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Palencia Frener, Sergio G"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Anthropology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Marc Edelman"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Mary Roldan","Christopher Loperena","Greg Grandin"],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:22Z","subjects":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Indigenous Kinship","Ground-Rent","Plantation","Rebellion"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5342","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Marc Edelman"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Mary Roldan","Christopher Loperena","Greg Grandin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Palencia Frener, Sergio G"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-02T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Anthropology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Indigenous Kinship","Ground-Rent","Plantation","Rebellion"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5342"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Indigenous Maya in Guatemala lived through one of Latin America’s most intense conflicts during the second part of the twentieth century. This research focuses on Maya politics, kinship relations, and interethnic experiences in multifarious mobilization through social democratic parties, rural unions, and cooperatives (1966-1974), and the intricacies of Maya indigenous participation in peasant organizations and insurgencies during the war escalation (1976–1982). This work reassesses Maya indigenous communal politics beyond Cold War dichotomies and situates the villages as central loci to grapple with the complexity of indigenous history during the Guatemalan war. Through research in Akateko, Kaqchikel, K’iche’, and Ixil territories, this work explores plantations’ territoriality and labor transformations, ground-rent expansion, and interethnic relations between Maya peoples and Ladinos. By using methods in ethno-cartography, photo-elucidation workshops, memory visits, chronology of the war, in-situ interviews and focus groups, and recently found historical archives, memoirs, and photos, this research reconstructs the stories of Maya communal politics and individual militancy from the standpoint of indigenous narratologies of the war. This dissertation reinterprets one of Latin America’s Cold War paradigmatic cases from the standpoint of indigenous villagers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Anti-Plantation Uprising: Indigenous Kinship, Territories, and Communal Politics in Guatemala, 1966-1982"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Marc Edelman"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Mary Roldan","Christopher Loperena","Greg Grandin"],"dc:creator":["Palencia Frener, Sergio G"],"dc:date.available":["2025-06-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Indigenous Maya in Guatemala lived through one of Latin America’s most intense conflicts during the second part of the twentieth century. This research focuses on Maya politics, kinship relations, and interethnic experiences in multifarious mobilization through social democratic parties, rural unions, and cooperatives (1966-1974), and the intricacies of Maya indigenous participation in peasant organizations and insurgencies during the war escalation (1976–1982). This work reassesses Maya indigenous communal politics beyond Cold War dichotomies and situates the villages as central loci to grapple with the complexity of indigenous history during the Guatemalan war. Through research in Akateko, Kaqchikel, K’iche’, and Ixil territories, this work explores plantations’ territoriality and labor transformations, ground-rent expansion, and interethnic relations between Maya peoples and Ladinos. By using methods in ethno-cartography, photo-elucidation workshops, memory visits, chronology of the war, in-situ interviews and focus groups, and recently found historical archives, memoirs, and photos, this research reconstructs the stories of Maya communal politics and individual militancy from the standpoint of indigenous narratologies of the war. This dissertation reinterprets one of Latin America’s Cold War paradigmatic cases from the standpoint of indigenous villagers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5342"],"dc:subject":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Indigenous Kinship","Ground-Rent","Plantation","Rebellion"],"dc:title":["The Anti-Plantation Uprising: Indigenous Kinship, Territories, and Communal Politics in Guatemala, 1966-1982"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Anthropology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:22Z"}