Maya or Mestizo?

This multifaceted and beautifully written ethnography of Maxcanu, a small Maya town in the Yucatan region of Mexico, offers both an historical and a contemporary understanding of the way external pressures to modernize are often met with forms of resistance that are rooted in rituals and oral tradition.The Maya of the Yucatan have long been drawn into the Mexican state's attempt to create modern Mexican citizens (mestizos). They have also been drawn into the North American and global economy through agriculture and, more recently, tourism and US-based evangelical organizations. Despite the many pressures to turn Mayas into mestizos, the citizens of Maxcanu use subtle forms of resistance, including humour, satire, and language, to maintain aspects of their traditional identity. Mayas or Mestizos? skilfully weaves the history of Mexico into a compelling tale of a community caught between tradition and modernity.

Ronald Loewe is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Long Beach. His work has been published in a number of journals, including the Journal of American Folklore, American Anthropologist, and Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. He is currently an editor of the journal Practicing Anthropology.