Folkloric Poverty by Rebecca Overmyervelzquez

Folkloric Poverty by Rebecca Overmyervelzquez

Analyzes the crisis indigenous political groups faced in Mexico at the turn of the twenty-first century. Focuses on an indigenous peoples movement in the state of Guerrero that gained unprecedented national and international prominence in the 1990s and yet was defunct by 2002.

“This is an outstanding contribution to critical analysis of indigenous movements in Mexico, not simply because it offers an ethnographically grounded diagnosis of the difficulties that confront organizations with militant origins that try to work through institutional channels, but also because it provides a long-term historical perspective that enables us to grasp seldom-discussed continuities between the old ‘official indigenism’ and more recent developmentsThe insights that this study offers into the contradictory visions and practices of state functionaries and indigenous intellectuals and activists alike make it essential reading for anyone interested in multicultural Latin America.”

—John Gledhill, University of Manchester

“In this historically grounded work, Overmyer-Velázquez ably demonstrates the ways in which both the state and indigenous organizations in Guerrero used the figure of the folkloric Indian to frame, motivate, and pursue their goals over time. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the region, she narrates the evolution of a regional indigenous movement as it interacts with state agencies and officials and attempts to build alliances and strengthen its base of support. Not enough attention has been paid to indigenous organizations in Guerrero, which is surprising given their importance to larger Indian organizations on the national level in Mexico. This engaging and eminently readable book will be of great interest to scholars and students in a range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, political science, and public policy.”

—Shannan Mattiace, Allegheny College

“Rebecca Overmyer-Velázquez has written a highly readable and lucid account of the rise of one regional indigenous movement organization, the Guerrero Council 500 Years of Resistance, and its subsequent decline, mirroring the general fortunes of Mexico’s Indian movement more broadly.”

—Shannan L. Mattiace The Americas

Rebecca Overmyer-Velázquez is Associate Professor of Sociology at Whittier College.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780271036588
ISBN 10	0271036583
Title	Folkloric Poverty
Author	Rebecca Overmyervelzquez
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pennsylvania State University Press
Year published	2014-04-15
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.