Current+Issues+of+Ethnicity+and+Globalization

=**MAYAN IDENTITY IN A GLOBALIZED SOCIETY**=

The Mayan culture has existed for over 4,000 years. Their culture has evolved, however, along with the technological, cultural, and political evolution of the world. In contemporary society, Mayans have adapted to preserve their own cultural traditions while becoming functional members of the modernized, globalized culture and economy that surrounds them. The globalization of contemporary culture has resulted in the emergence of many significant issues in Mayan culture, including:

· Emergence of Political Activism · Revitalization of Mayan Language and Culture · Employment in Factory Labor · Emergence of the Tourist Economy

=**Preservation of Mayan Identity**=

While the evolutionary progression and standardization of Latin American culture has led to many advancements and positive changes, it also poses a serious threat to traditional Mayan culture. In response to this threat, there have been two significant movements over the last two decades—the Zapatista Movement and the Pan-Mayan Movement.


 * Political Activism: The Zapatista Movement**

The Zapatista Movement is a political movement that began in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1994. Led by a revolutionary called Subcommandante Marcos, a group of Mayan rebels rallied under the banner of the Zapatista National Liberation Army and marched on the city of San Cristobal. This “postmodern revolution”, initiated at the introduction of NAFTA, was a result of the national debt crisis of the 1980’s, during which government support and social welfare programs had declined dramatically, forcing the already struggling Mayans of Chiapas into deeper poverty. Another equally important contributing factor was the impending reform of Article 27 in the Federal Constitution. Article 27 entitled indigenous peoples title to //ejidos//, or common lands traditionally belonging to their tribe. Reform of this Article would wrest land from the Maya that had been in their possession for generations. The insurrection escalated into low-intensity conflict; the Mexican government ultimately sent 60,000 troops to quell the rebellion and call for peace negotiations. These negotiations were successful: the two parties were able to establish a system of improved political and social autonomy and equality for the Mayan people, and the Zapatista National Liberation Army disarmed and reconstituted itself as a political party. Some frown upon this movement as a violent uprising reminiscent of the guerrilla Marxist movements of the Cold War; others sympathize with the plight of the Mayans as a minority population and romanticize the movement’s leaders as heroes. Either way, the Zapatista movement is proof of the Mayan people’s significant and relevant political and social clout.




 * Social Activism: The Pan-Mayan Movement**

The Pan-Mayan Movement differs from the Zapatista Movement in several ways; most importantly, it is a social revolution rather than a political one, and its revolutionary style tends to rely more on gradual cultural changes more than radical uprisings. The Pan-Mayan Movement is centered mainly in Guatemala, although it is widespread throughout Mexico as well. It began in 1979, when the massacre of one hundred Q’eqchi’ Mayans sparked widespread criticism of the Guatemalan government and rapid politicization of the Mayan population there. The main goal of the Pan-Mayan movement is twofold: it aims to revitalize and reunite the traditional Mayan culture, and to establish a more autonomous recognition of that culture within the nation-states in which the Mayans reside. The most significant expressions of the Pan-Mayan Movement are found in the revitalization of the Mayan language and religion. The process of linguistic revitalization includes a standardization of the Mayan alphabet. Although there are 31 Mayan languages, the K’ichee’ dialect is the most widely spoken; there have been efforts to standardize the alphabets of the Mayan languages according to the K’ichee’ written alphabet since 1945, and these efforts have been facilitated by such groups as the Academy for the Maya-Kíche’ Language and the Academy for Maya Languages of Guatemala. The Pan-Mayan movement is also expressed through their display of religion. Hundreds of years of assimilation have melded the traditional indigenous religion with Western religions, but the ancient Mayan belief system has not disappeared; the modern Mayan religion is a hybrid of Catholicism and traditional Mayan rituals and beliefs. Idols of ancient gods have been replaced by statues of “santos”, but these saints hardly resemble their European counterparts, and their mythology draws much more from indigenous folklore than European teachings. Sacrifices, rituals, and traditional festivals are still highly important aspects of Latin American culture, and Mayan shamans are leaders in many communities, especially rural ones. The Pan-Mayan movement is an example of contemporary Mayans successfully compromising between assimilation into contemporary globalized culture and preservation of traditional cultural ideals.

=Employment and Economic Standing Among the Indigenous Maya=

The globalized economy has not been kind to the Mayan population. Most are impoverished, and many are unemployed. A significant demographic, however, have adapted to the globalization of the economy and found jobs either in the factory industry or in the newly-evolved tourist economy.


 * The Factory Industry**

In Mexico, most Mayans employed by the factory industry work at //maquiladoras//—factories from companies outside of the country that are strategically placed in Mexico to avoid tax and tariff costs. The value of these maquiladoras to the economic progress of the Maya is debatable. It does provide jobs for many who would otherwise be unemployed, but the hours are long, the wages low, the work dangerous, and the opportunity for advancement minimal, particularly in southern Mexico, where the majority of the indigenous population is located. A job in a maquiladora in southern Mexico will earn only 300 pesos per week (equal to roughly $0.42 per hour), whereas a job near the US-Mexican border earns twice that much.




 * The Tourist Economy**

In states heavily frequented by tourists, such as Yucatan and Chiapas, many indigenous people make their living by catering to the tourist population. They do this by working as tour guides, working in service industries, and, most significantly, by selling traditional Mayan wares in public markets. These vendors use carefully calculated performances to procure sales; the act of selling is a performance in itself. The vendors methodically employ small-talk and other subtleties in order to gain the trust, and eventually the money, of tourists. The wares they sell are usually traditional, such as handmade bracelets and //huipils//—woven blouses. The envorionment in which they sell them, however, is decidedly un-traditional. The vendors therefore use performance out economic necessity, and use humor as a coping mechanism to critique and undermine the Tourist Economy to which they belong.

=Globalization’s Overall Effect on the Mayan Culture=

There is a significant amount of controversy surrounding the effects of globalization on indigenous populations all over the world, and the Maya are no exception. Thus far, the Mayans have done a remarkable job of adapting to the globalization process while preserving their culture’s traditions. The most significant controversy, therefore, lies not in their cultural appreciation but in their economic degradation. The //maquiladora// economy and the tourist economy have a common liability: they are both entirely dependent on countries and economic forces external of Latin America. Although these economies are contained within Latin America, their existence is based on the financial stability of more developed Western states. Although this is advantageous in the short run, as Mexican president Vicente Fox has acknowledged, it may result in long-term economic instability. Thus, it may help the Mayans’ cause now, but in the future other solutions may be needed to make them truly financially stable. As the world globalizes, so too does the scope of the Maya’s culture; their ways of life are changing, but their traditions survive. Their culture has shown resilience in the face of assimilation and economic marginalization for four thousand years, and it will continue to show that resilience for generations to come.