Revolt Against the Dead

The Modernization of a Mayan Community in the Highlands of Guatemala

Douglas E. Brintnall

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040386989
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1979, Revolt Against the Dead describes the changing lifestyle of the Aguacatec Indians, a Mayan peasant people of the northwestern highlands of Guatemala. The author presents the societal transformation from an economic, social, political, and religious perspective.

The book explores both internal and external factors responsible for bringing about the change in the Aguacatan community. It emphasizes the interplay between changing local conditions and outside influences. As many factors that occurred at different times were responsible for the transformation, most of the book is organized into a kind of history. The local events are therefore presented as three major epochs—traditional Aguacatan; a transitional period of collapse; and the contemporary, new order. This volume will be of interest to students and researchers of anthropology and history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Introduction to the Series
• Foreword
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• List of Plates
• Author’s Note
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• I Introduction
• II The Regional Setting
• III Studying the Aguacatecs
• IV Introduction to Aguacatan
• V Traditional Aguacatan
• VI The Traditional Economy and Its Transformation
• VII The Revolt Against the Dead
• VIII The New Social Order
• IX Conclusion
• X Epilogue
• I The Census Questionnaire
• II Household Ethnicity and Religious Affiliation by Hamlet
• III Vote Counts in Recent Elections
• References
• Index