Dissertation Research: Community Development in the Western Guatemalan Highlands

这个项目将允许文化人类学的学生， 进行研究以撰写论文。 学生 将居住在危地马拉北方的玛雅印第安人社区，并且 将探讨农民的从属人口如何试图 通过研究一个不同寻常的 一个残酷的例子，玛雅印第安人谁被占领的 游击队起义失败后的危地马拉军队。 通过 专注于危地马拉北方的战后重建， 研究土地分配项目和快速增长的 福音派新教教会，该项目将有助于 了解贫苦农民社区如何捍卫 面对外界的压力。 使用的方法将 包括参与观察、档案研究和正式 与有关政府和非政府机构的面谈。 这项研究是重要的，因为严酷的最近的历史， 危地马拉印第安人（参与当地战斗， 受宗教传教士影响国家军队）是一个 农民社区的共同经验，其中很大一部分 世界人口的生活。 增进我们的了解 这些社区如何应对这些压力将有助于我们科普 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.