Dissertation Research: Community Development in the Western Guatemalan Highlands

这个项目将允许文化人类学的学生进行研究，以获得学位论文。这名学生将生活在危地马拉北部的一个玛雅印第安人社区，并将通过研究一个异常残酷的案例来探索从属农民如何试图重新谈判其处境的条款，玛雅印第安人在游击队起义失败后被危地马拉军队占领。通过重点关注危地马拉北部的战后重建，研究土地分配项目和福音派新教教会的迅速发展，该项目将有助于了解贫穷的农民社区如何在外部压力下保护自己。使用的方法包括参与者观察、档案研究和与相关政府和非政府机构的正式访谈。这项研究之所以重要，是因为危地马拉印第安人最近的恶劣历史(参与当地战斗、被国家军队占领、受到宗教传教士的影响)在世界上大部分人口居住的农民社区是一种常见的经历。增加我们对这些社区如何应对这些压力的了解，将有助于我们应对这些变化。

This project will allow a student in cultural anthropology to conduct research leading towards a dissertation. The student will live in a Mayan Indian community in northern Guatemala, and will explore how a subordinate population of peasants tries to renegotiate the terms of its situation by studying an unusually harsh case, that of Mayan Indians who have been occupied by the Guatemalan army following an unsuccessful guerrilla uprising. By focusing on the postwar reconstruction in northern Guatemala, studying the land distribution projects and the rapid growth of evangelical Protestant churches, the project will contribute to an understanding of how poor peasant communities defend themselves in the face of external pressure. Methods used will include participant observation, archival research, and formal interviews with relevant government and non-government agencies. This research is important because the harsh recent history of Guatemalan Indians (involvement in local fighting, occupation by the National army, influence by religious missionaries) is a common experience in peasant communities, where a large portion of the world's population lives. Increasing our understanding how these communities react to such pressures will help us cope with these changes.