346 UNIT 3 MODERN MESOAMERICA
foreign intellectuals. Criticisms include the argument that the movement has po-
larized the diverse Mayan ethnic groups by artificially claiming cultural unity when
in reality, multiple distinct regional and local Mayan identities and cultures remain.
The pan-Mayanists are also accused of denying the existence of the many Mayan el-
ements that have been incorporated into Guatemala’s ladino culture, elements (it is
argued) that could provide the basis for a common national cultural identity.
(Box 8.8 provides an example of one kind of criticism leveled at the pan-
Mayanists, in this case by a Guatemalan journalist who is both a Ladino and former
leftist sympathizer.)
In the context of harsh and often noisy criticism of the pan-Mayan movement,
it is important to keep in mind that much of this criticism may be promoted by ne-
oliberal advocates who want to prevent true Mayan “collective empowerment” (Hale
2002:523).SUGGESTED READINGS
CARMACK, ROBERTM. 1995 Quiche-Mayan Rebels of High-
land Guatemala: A Political Ethnohistory of Momoste-
nango.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
CUMBERLAND, CHARLESC. 1972 The Mexican Revolution:
The Constitutionalist Years.Austin: University of Texas
Press.
DAWSON, ALEXANDERS. 2004 Indian and Nation in Revo-
lutionary Mexico.Tucson: University of Arizona Press
DUNKERLEY, JAMES 1988 Power in the Isthmus: A Political
History of Modern Central America.London: Verso.
GOSSEN, GARYH. (ed.) 1986 Symbol and Meaning Beyond
the Closed Community: Essays in Mesoamerican Ideas.
Studies on Culture and Society, vol. 1. Albany: Insti-
tute for Mesoamerican Studies.
GOULD, JEFFREYL. 1998 To Die in This Way. Nicaraguan
Indians and the Myth of Mestizaje, 1880–1965.Durham,
North Carolina: Duke University Press.
GUTIERREZ, NATIVIDAD 1999 Nationalist Myths and Ethnic
Identities: Indigenous Intellectuals and the Mexican State.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
JONAS, SUSANNE 2000 Of Centaurs and Doves. Guatemala’s
Peace Process.Boulder: Westview Press.
JOSEPH, GILBERM., ANDTIMOTHYJ. HENDERSON(eds.)
2002 The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics.
Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
KENDALL, CARL, JOHNHAWKINS, ANDLAURELBOSSEN 1983
Heritage of Conquest Thirty Years Later.Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press.
WARMAN, ARTURO 1980 “We Come to Object”: The Peasants
of Morelos and the National State.Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press.
WARREN, KAY 1998 Indigenous Movements and their Critics:
Pan-Maya Activism in Guatemala.Princeton: Prince-
ton University Press.