Agrarian Change in Southeastern Mexico

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In this project Dr. Collier, an anthropologist at Stanford University, will complete longitudinal research on stratification among the Highland Maya of southeastern Mexico. The region has changed dramatically during the 1970's oil-driven development boom and the 1980's economic crisis. During the boom the study population, Indians of Zinacantan, shifted out of mid-century occupations as peasant corn farmers into a more complex mix of wage-work, transport and commerce, and agriculture using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Using ethnographic methods, interviews and systematic records of household and production budgets, the project will document changes in Zanacanteco production and allied socio-cultural changes in marriage patterns and the ritual office system. This research will illuminate the role of peasantries in recent capitalist agrarian development in Mexico and will offer important alternatives to current thinking about the nature of highland Maya culture and social organization. Most previous studies in this area did not analyze the political economy of the Indian's relations with the larger economy and polity, thus Dr. Collier's research will add a valuable dimension to a large corpus of studies.