Silenced Communities

Legacies of Militarization and Militarism in a Rural Guatemalan Town

Marcia Esparza

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781785336874
• eBook ISBN: 9781785336881
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Genocide & War Crimes
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Although the Guatemalan Civil War ended more than two decades ago, its bloody legacy continues to resonate even today. In Silenced Communities, author Marcia Esparza offers an ethnographic account of the failed demilitarization of the rural militia in the town of Santo Tomás Chichicastenango following the conflict. Combining insights from postcolonialism, subaltern studies, and theories of internal colonialism, Esparza explores the remarkable resilience of ideologies and practices engendered in the context of the Cold War, demonstrating how the lingering effects of grassroots militarization affect indigenous communities that continue to struggle with inequality and marginalization.

Table of contents

• Silenced Communities
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction — "My Soul Is a Military Soul"
• Chapter 1 — The Methodological Crisis Revisited
• Chapter 2 — A Postcolonial Reenactment: The Cold War Civil Self-Defense Patrol System
• Chapter 3 — A Chameleonlike Army: Civic Action, a Postcolonial Strategy
• Chapter 4 — The Beheading of a Popular Maya Uprising in a "Red Community"
• Chapter 5 — Early Disbanding, Postgenocide Resistance, and Na'tab'al (Memory)
• Chapter 6 — "Inverted Discourse": Collaboration in "White Communities"
• Chapter 7 — Nationalistic Mythology Revival: Failure to Dismantle the Internal Enemy Myth
• Chapter 8 — A "Silence That Hurts": Garrison Communities
• Chapter 9 — Militaristic Legacies: Lynching and La Cadena
• Chapter 10 — A Forseen Aftermath: Decree 3-2014
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index