Overview
In The Mayan in the Mall, J. T. Way traces the creation of modern Guatemala from the 1920s to the present through a series of national and international development projects. Way shows that, far from being chronically underdeveloped, this nation of stark contrasts-where shopping malls and multinational corporate headquarters coexist with some of the Western Hemisphere's poorest and most violent slums-is the embodiment of globalized capitalism. Using a wide array of historical and contemporary sources, Way explores the multiple intersections of development and individual life, focusing on the construction of social space through successive waves of land reform, urban planning, and economic policy. His explorations move from Guatemala City's poorest neighborhoods and informal economies (run predominantly by women) to a countryside still recovering from civil war and anti-Mayan genocide, and they encompass such artifacts of development as the modernist Pan-American Highway and the postmodern Grand Tikal Futura, a Mayan-themed shopping mall ringed by gated communities and shantytowns. Capitalist development, Way concludes, has dramatically reshaped the country's physical and social landscapes-engendering poverty, ethnic regionalism, and genocidal violence-and positioned Guatemala as a harbinger of globalization's future.
Full Product Details
Author: J. T. Way ,
John T Way
Publisher: Duke University Press
Imprint: Duke University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 23.20cm
Weight: 0.463kg
ISBN: 9780822351313
ISBN 10: 0822351315
Pages: 277
Publication Date: 16 April 2012
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Finally, a history of Guatemala City, a place key to national history that most scholars flee from! J. T. Way has unearthed a wealth of material from archival, literary and oral sources. In striking and vibrant detail, Way skilfully traces the history of neighbourhoods and of individuals from the first half of the twentieth century to today and he uses this to open up a remarkable and original discussion of the play of ethnicity and modernity in the making of a cultural texture and urban political economy that uses the 'Mayan' in the absence of Mayas or worse, in the presence of their oppression. The Mayan in the Mall brings to life the city's residents in this 'society of vendors' and simultaneously delivers a devastating and brilliant critique of development. Deborah T. Levenson, co-editor of The Guatemala Reader: History, Culture, Politics The quirky mind of J. T. Way reveals a Guatemala that will enlighten even seasoned hands, one deformed by development in myriad modernist guise, a curse to most of its citizens, the blessing of a venal few. W. George Lovell, Queen's University, Canada
Finally, a history of Guatemala City, a place key to national history that most scholars flee from! J. T. Way has unearthed a wealth of material from archival, literary and oral sources. In striking and vibrant detail, Way skillfully traces the history of neighborhoods and of individuals from the first half of the twentieth century to today and he uses this to open up a remarkable and original discussion of the play of ethnicity and modernity in the making of a cultural texture and urban political economy that uses the 'Mayan' in the absence of Mayas or worse, in the presence of their oppression. The Mayan in the Mall brings to life the city's residents in this 'city of vendors' and simultaneously delivers a devastating and brilliant critique of development. --Deborah T. Levenson, co-editor of The Guatemala Reader: History, Culture, Politics
Author Information
J. T. Way is Assistant Professor of Latin American History at Georgia State University.
