ETHNOGRAPHY SEMINAR: CENTRAL AMERICA

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ETHNOGRAPHY SEMINAR CENTRAL AMERICA

• Helsinki University
• Fall 2003
• Toomas Gross

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• Times Wed 12-14
• Location U40 ls 12
• Instructor Toomas Gross
• Email toomas.gross_at_helsinki.fi
• Phone [phone]
• Office Hours Thurs 11-12, E309

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On terminology (I)

• Central America Mexico, Belize and six other
  republics
• Latin America
• coined by the French in the 1860s
• 24 political entities
• culturally, linguistically and religiously
  defined
• North America US, Canada ( Mexico?) gt NAFTA
• Hispano-America or Hispanic America
• Vs Anglo-America or Luso-America

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On terminology (II)

• Ibero-America
• Hispano- Luso-America
• Central America
• Traditionally - cinco repúblicas (Guatemala,
  Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica)
• United Provinces of Central America in 1823-1838
• Hence does not include Panama, Belize or Mexico

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On terminology (III)

• Middle America
• Central America plus the Caribbean and the
  Antilles
• i.e. what lies between North and South America
• Mesoamerica
• a cultural term
• coined by Paul Kirchhoff in 1943
• based on geographical limits, ethnic composition,
  and cultural characteristics

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On terminology (IV)

• Luso-America Portuguese America
• Franco-America
• Haiti Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana
  ( Quebec)

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Seminar requirements

• 8-10 page research paper on a selected topic
• 15-20 minute presentation
• topic to be chosen by 24.09
• research paper to other seminar participants a
  week prior to their presentation
• presentation based on one ethnography and linking
  it with other seminar readings.

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Readings

• Required readings (2 articles per seminar)
• Readings for presentation
• (1 monograph/ethnography per student)
• Additional readings (optional)

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2. History of anthropological research in Central
America (24.09)

• Beals, R., R. Redfield S. Tax 1943.
  Anthropological Research Problems with Reference
  to the Contemporary Peoples of Mexico and
  Guatemala. In American Anthropologist 45, pp.
  1-21.
• Hewitt de Alcántara, Cynthia 1984. Conclusions.
  In Anthropological perspectives on rural Mexico.
  London Routledge.

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3. Socio-political organization of rural
communities (1.10)

• Communal identity, cargo system, social
  organization, social relationships, caciquismo,
  compadrazgo
• Carrasco, P. E. 1961. The Civil-Religious
  Hierarchy in Mesoamerican Communities
  Pre-Spanish Background and Colonial Development.
  In American Anthropologist 63, pp. 483-497.
• Chance, J. K. 1990. Changes in Twentieth-Century
  Mesoamerican Cargo Systems. In Class, Politics
  and Popular Religion in Mexico and Central
  America (eds) L. Stephen J. Dow. Washington,
  D.C. American Anthropology Association.

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4. Ethnicity and indigenous groups (8.10)

• Ethnic identity, inter-ethnic relations, ethnic
  groups and boundaries
• Diskin, M. 2001. Ethnic Discourse and the
  Challenge to Anthropology The Nicaraguan Case.
  Urban, G. and J. Sherzer Nation-States and
  Indians in Latin America. Austin University of
  Texas Press.
• Medina, L. 2003. History, Culture, and
  Place-Making Native Status and Maya Identity
  in Belize. In Gutmann, M. et al (eds)
  Perspectives on Las Américas A Reader in
  Culture, History, and Representation. Oxford
  Blackwell.

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5. Peasantry, poverty, class (15.10)

• Land, peasantry, class, culture of poverty
• Hewitt de Alcántara, Cynthia 1984. Cultural
  Ecology, Marxism and the Development of a Theory
  of a Peasantry, 1950-1970. In Anthropological
  perspectives on rural Mexico. London Routledge.
• Wolf, Eric R. 1955. Types of Latin American
  Peasantry A Preliminary Discussion. American
  Anthropologist 57, pp. 452-71.

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6. Nations and nationalism (22.10)

• Nation-building, collective symbols, national
  identity, multiculturalism, mestizaje
• Stavenhagen, R. 2002. Indigenous Peoples and the
  State in Latin America An Ongoing Debate. In R.
  Sieder (ed.) Multiculturalism in Latin America
  Indigenous Rights, Diversity and Democracy. New
  York Palgrave Macmillan.
• Wolf, E.  1979. The Virgin of Guadalupe.  In
  Lessa W., and E. Vogt (eds) Reader in Comparative
  Religion An Anthropological Approach. Boston,
  MA Addison-Wesley.

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7. Conflict and violence (29.10)

• State, violence, ethnocide, land conflicts
• Edelman, M. 2003. A Central American Genocide
  Rubber, Slavery, Nationalism, and the Destruction
  of the Guatusos-Malekus. In Gutmann, M.
• Stephen, L. 2003. The Construction of Indigenous
  Suspects Militarization and the Gendered and
  Ethnic Dynamics of Human Rights Abuses in
  Southern Mexico. In Gutmann, M..

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8. Ethnic resistance and indigenous movements
(5.11)

• Human rights, social mobilization, social
  movements, Guatemala, Chiapas
• Adams, R. N. 2001. Strategies of Ethnic Survival
  in Central America. In Urban, G. and J. Sherzer
  Nation-States and Indians in Latin America.
  Austin University of Texas Press.
• Stephen, L. 1990. The Politics of Ritual The
  Mexican State and Zapotec Autonomy, 1926-1989. In
  Class, Politics and Popular Religion in Mexico
  and Central America (eds) L. Stephen J. Dow.
  Washington, D.C. American Anthropology
  Association.

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9. Politics of gender (12.11)

• Machismo, marianismo, social movements, womens
  organizations
• Duvalos, K. 2003. La Quinceañera Making Gender
  and Ethnic Identities. In Gutmann, M. et al
  Perspectives on Las Américas A Reader in
  Culture, History, and Representation. Oxford
  Blackwell.
• Navarro, M 2002. Against Marianismo. In R.
  Montoya, L. Frazier, and J. Hurtig (eds) Genders
  Place Feminist Anthropologies of Latin America.
  New York Palgrave Macmillan.

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10. Popular religion and religious change (19.11)

• (Folk) Catholicism, syncretism, ritual,
  Evangelical Protestantism
• Higgins, M. J. 1990. Martyrs and Virgins
  Popular Religion in Mexico and Nicaragua. In
  Class, Politics and Popular Religion in Mexico
  and Central America (eds) L. Stephen J. Dow.
  Washington, D.C. American Anthropology
  Association.
• Dow, J., and L. Stephen 1990. The Dynamics of
  Religion in Middle American Communities. In
  Class, Politics and Popular Religion in Mexico
  and Central America (eds) L. Stephen J. Dow.
  Washington, D.C. American Anthropology
  Association.

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11. Globalization, dependency and social change
(26.11)

• US-Central America relations, dependencia,
  neo-colonialism, democratization, migration
• Cantú, L. 2003. A Place Called Home A Queer
  Political Economy of Mexican Immigrant Mens
  Experiences. In Gutmann, M. et al Perspectives on
  Las Américas A Reader in Culture, History, and
  Representation. Oxford Blackwell.
• Gutmann, M. 2003. For Whom the Taco Bells Toll
  Popular Responses to NAFTA South of the Border.
  In Gutmann, M. et al Perspectives on Las
  Américas A Reader in Culture, History, and
  Representation. Oxford Blackwell.

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Texts for presentation (3)

• Socio-political organization of rural communities
  (1.10)
• Lewis, Oscar 1963 1951. Life in a Mexican
  Village Tepoztlán Restudied. Urbana University
  of Illinois Press.
• Nader, L. 1990. Harmony Ideology Justice and
  Control in a Zapotec Mountain Village. Stanford
  Stanford University Press.
• Redfield, Robert 1973 1930. Tepoztlán A
  Mexican Village. Chicago University of Chicago
  Press.
• Vogt, E. Z. 1969. Zinacantan A Maya Community in
  the Highlands of Chiapas. Cambridge, Mass.
  Harvard University Press.

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Texts for presentation (4)

• Ethnicity and indigenous groups (8.10)
• Faust, B. 1999. Mexican Rural Development and the
  Plumed Serpent Technology and Maya Cosmology in
  the Tropical Forest of Campeche, Mexico.
  Westport Bergin Garvey.
• Friedlander, J. 1975. Being Indian in Hueyapan A
  Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico.
  New York St. Martins Press.
• Lipp, F. J. 1998. The Mixe of Oaxaca Religion,
  Ritual, and Healing. Austin University of Texas
  Press.
• Sandstrom, A. R. 1991. Corn is Our Blood Culture
  and Ethnic Identity in a Contemporary Aztec
  Indian Village. Oklahoma City University of
  Oklahoma Press.

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Texts for presentation (5)

• Peasantry, poverty, class (15.10)
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• Cancian, Frank 1972. Change and Uncertainty in a
  Peasant Economy The Maya Corn Farmers of
  Zinacantan. Stanford, CA Stanford University
  Press.
• Foster, G. M. 1979 1967. Tzintzuntzan Mexican
  Peasants in a Changing World. New York Elsevier
  (Pages TBA)
• Redfield, R. 1967. Peasant Society and Culture.
  Chicago University of Chicago Press.
• Tax, S. 1953. Penny Capitalism A Guatemalan
  Indian Economy. Washington, D.C. Smithsonian
  Institution, Institute for Social Anthropology.

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Texts for presentation (6)

• Nation and nationalism (22.10)
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• Turner, F. C. 1968. The Dynamic of Mexican
  Nationalism. Chapel Hill The University of North
  Carolina Press.
• Vasconcelos, J. 1979 1925. La Raza Cósmica /
  The Cosmic Race. Baltimore The Johns Hopkins
  University Press.

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Texts for presentation (7)

• Conflict and violence (29.10)
• Berryman, P. 1994. Stubborn Hope Religion,
  Politics, and Revolution in Central America. New
  York Orbis Books / The New Press.
• Dennis, P. 1987. Intervillage Conflict in Oaxaca.
  New Brunswick London Rutgers University Press.
• Romanucci-Ross, L. 1986 1973. Conflict,
  Violence and Morality in a Mexican Village.
  Chicago University of Chicago Press.

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Texts for presentation (8)

• Ethnic resistance and social movements (5.11)
• Campbell, H. 1994. Zapotec Resistance Ethnic
  Politics and Cultural Revivalism in Southern
  Mexico. Albuquerque University of New Mexico.
• Collier, G., and E. Lowery Quaratiello 1999.
  Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in
  Chiapas. Oakland Food First Books.
• Harvey, N. 1998. The Chiapas Rebellion The
  Struggle for Land and Democracy. Durham Duke
  University Press.

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Texts for presentation (9)

• Politics of gender (12.11)
• Gutmann, M.C. 1996. The Meanings of Macho Being
  a Man in Mexico City. Berkeley University of
  California Press.
• Lancaster, R. 1994. Life Is Hard Machismo,
  Danger, and the Intimacy of Power in Nicaragua.
  Berkeley University of California Press.
• Stephen, L. 1991. Zapotec Women. Austin
  University of Texas Press.

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Texts for presentation (10)

• Popular religion and religious change (19.11) 
• Brandes, S. H. 1988. Power and Persuasion
  Fiestas and Social Control in Rural Mexico.
  Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Falla, R. 2001. Quiché Rebelde Religious
  Conversion, Politics and Ethnic Identity in
  Guatemala. Austin University of Texas Press.
• Garrard-Burnett, V. 1998. Protestantism in
  Guatemala Living in the New Jerusalem. Austin
  University of Texas Press.

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Texts for presentation (11)

• Globalization, dependency and social change
  (26.11)
• Buckley, R. 1999. Central America Wrestling with
  US Power. Cheltenham Understanding Global
  Issues.
• Bulmer-Thomas, V., and J. Dunkerley 1999. The
  United States and Latin America The New Agenda.
  London Institute of Latin American Studies
  (selected articles).

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Central America as a culture area(I)

• a heterogeneous region, because
• Mexico - big and relatively rich, others small
  and poor
• Mexico - 3000 km borderline with the US and NAFTA
• Panama canal
• Ethnic differences (eg. Guatemala vs Costa Rica)
• Socioeconomic differences (Mexico vs others)
• Political differences (Costa Rica the only
  democracy)

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Central America as a culture area (II)

• a cultural whole, because
• Similar political history (except Belize)
• most formed part of Viceroyalty of Spain
• independence in the early 19th century
• Economic similarities
• plantation agriculture
• Similar cultural and social characteristics
• Indigenous ethnic groups
• Human rights issues
• Catholicism
• Similar geopolitical and strategic position
• Dependence on the US, migration

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Regional analysis" in anthropology

• two different meanings
• regional comparison, i.e studying and comparing
  cultures within a region
• study of a region as a structural or dynamic
  system, with different social or cultural units
  interacting (eg. Studies of colonialism, Marxist
  analyses, dependency theory)

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Diffusionism

• spread of cultural traits through contact and
  borrowing
• 1) British school - G. Elliot Smith, Haddon,
  William J. Perry, W. H. R. Rivers
• heliocentric (Egypt)
• 2) German-Austrian or Kulturkreis School
  Friedrich Ratzel, Fritz Graebner, Wilhelm
  Schmidt
• Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India and Mexico
• 2) ) US School Clark Wissler and Alfred Kroeber
  
• culture area environmental zone
• Age-area principle

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Historical periodization (I)

• Paleoindian (?18,000-10,000 BC)
• initial population of the New World via the
  Bering Land Bridge
• dramatic climate changes
• Archaic (10,000 - ca. 3000 BC)
• mobile, band-level societies
• trend for sedentism on coasts

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Historical periodization (II)

• Early Preclassic (3000 BC - 1000 BC) Early
  Formative
• appearance of permanent villages and later large
  chiefdoms
• cultivation of maize, beans, and squash
• Olmec culture (flourished around 1150 BC, San
  Lorenzo, chiefdom-level societies )
• Middle Preclassic (ca. 1000-400 BC) Middle
  Formative
• spread of religious traditions related to Olmec
  culture
• trend towards political centralization
• San Lorenzo is abandoned, La Venta, Tres Zapotes,
  and Laguna de los Cerros grow

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Historical periodization (III)

• Late Preclassic (400 BC to ca. AD 100) Late
  Formative
• beginnings of early state-level societies
• centers in the Valley of Mexico, highland
  Chiapas, the Gulf Coast, and the Maya area
• invention of writing systems
• Maya ceremonialism based on the observation of
  celestial events
• Protoclassic (AD 100 - 200)
• major shifts in the power of individual ritual
  centers

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Historical periodization (IV)

• Early Classic (AD 200 - 600)
• the rise of Teotihuacan civilization
• appearance of dynastic records with Long Count
  dates in the Maya area
• ruling dynasties at sites like Tikal, Calakmul,
  Palenque, Yaxchilán, and Copán 
• Zapotec civilization at Monte Alban in Oaxaca
• Late Classic (AD 600 - 900)
• Teotihuacan suffers from a dramatic decline
• Maya civilization in Petén, Chiapas, western
  Honduras, and Yucatán
• Palenque, Yaxchilán, Copán, Dos Pilas, and
  Chichén Itzá Uxmal

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Historical periodization (V)

• Epiclassic (AD 800 - 1000)
• "collapse" of Classic Maya culture in the
  southern lowlands
• flourishing of Maya culture in the northern
  lowlands (the Yucatán Peninsula). 
• Cholula, Cacaxtla, and Xochicalco in Central
  Mexico
• Early Postclassic (AD 1000-1300)
• the rise of Toltec culture (Tula)
• Late Postclassic (AD 1300-1519)
• Aztec dominance (Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco)

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Colonial era (1519 early 19th c.)

• Belize independence in 1981
• Tzvetan Todorov on the conquest and otherness
• Theological disputes - Bartolomé de las Casas
• Particularity of Spanish and Portuguese
  colonialism
• obedezco pero no cumplo
• Encomienda system and repatrimiento
• The spread of Catholicism
• Administrative changes

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Post-colonial era

• Simon Bolivars dream of United Latin America
• United Provinces of Central America in 1823
• Monroe's doctrine "America to the Americans
• Nationalism and creation of national identity
  (religion, national symbols)
• Economic dependence on the US and Europe (UFCO
  etc)