This chapter reflects on the effects of the territorial, political, and legal reorganization associated with development-related social policies and decentralizing neoliberal reforms, specifically the ways in which these policy framings affect the possibilities of local indigenous women activists to work on issues of justice and security from their own cultural standpoints and gender perspectives. The chapter analyzes the challenges faced by a group of Maya K’iche’ women in the municipality of Chichicastenango, Quiché, Guatemala, in their efforts to strengthen spaces and strategies to combat the discrimination and violence they suffer both in their own families and communities and in society in general.
(2017) “Between Participation and Violence: Gender Justice and Neoliberal Government in Chichicastenango, Guatemala” in Rachel Sieder (ed.) Demanding Justice and Security: Indigenous Women and Legal Pluralities in Latin America. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ: pp. 72-94. ISBN: 978-0-8135-8792-9