Dissertation Research: Linking Social and Cultural Capital: An Analysis of Cultural Change in Two Q'eqchi' Maya Communities

危地马拉Alta Verapaz地区的发展计划旨在为当地Q‘eqchi居民提供经济选择，改善他们的健康和营养，并保护该地区丰富的自然和文化资源，包括热带雨林、洞穴和考古遗址。对发展的分析通常在集体、社区范围内而不是个人层面上考虑方案的影响和结果。本文利用社会和文化资本的框架，通过文化人类学家的研究项目，考察了个人资产如何差异化地定位奎奇的个人，以利用发展项目带来的机会。社会资本是指个人或群体有能力通过社会网络获得的资源，而文化资本则更具分散性，包括教育、种族和通过社会化获得的性格。在两个村庄对发展项目的参与者和非参与者进行的研究将调查文化资本的资产，如双语(西班牙语和Q‘eqchi’)、教育水平、村外生活经验和自然资源知识如何与获得发展机构带来的机会直接相关，以及这些个人资产如何使个人与发展工作人员建立关系，从而能够获得利益。好处包括旅游业就业、经济作物生产培训、教育讲习班和旅行机会。这种比较分析将扩大我们对社会和文化资本的理解，这将有助于形成一个被经济学家、人类学家和社会学家广泛采用的理论。由于在埃克奇人中的人种学研究有限，这项研究也将扩大玛雅研究的领域。更广泛的影响包括帮助发展规划者确保其项目成功的新知识，以及促进年轻社会科学家的教育。

Development programs in the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala seek to provide economic alternatives for the local Q'eqchi' inhabitants, improve their health and nutrition, and protect the region's rich natural and cultural resources which include rainforests, caves, and archeological ruins. Analyses of development often consider program impacts and outcomes at a collective, community-wide level rather than at the level of the individual. Using the frameworks of social and cultural capital, this dissertation research project by a cultural anthropologist examines how personal assets differentially position Q'eqchi' individuals to take advantage of opportunities brought by development projects. Social capital refers to the resources that an individual or group has the ability to access through social networks, whereas cultural capital is more diffuse, including education, ethnicity, and dispositions gained through socialization. Research with Q'eqchi' participants and non-participants of development projects in two villages will investigate how assets of cultural capital such as bilingualism (Spanish and Q'eqchi'), educational level, experience living outside of the village, and knowledge of natural resources correlate directly with access to opportunities brought by development agents, as well as how these personal assets position individuals to form relationships with development workers which can lead to access to benefits. Benefits include employment in tourism, training in cash crop production, educational workshops, and travel opportunities. This comparative analysis will expand our understanding of social and cultural capital, which will contribute to a theory widely employed by economists, anthropologists, and sociologists. As ethnographic research among the Q'eqchi' is limited, this research will also expand the field of Maya studies. Broader impacts include new knowledge to help development planners ensure the success of their projects, as well as the advance in the education of a young social scientist.