ABSTRACT

Intersecting the class antagonisms are equally profound ethnic-national divisions. Although identity is central to understanding the situation of Guatemala's indigenous peoples, there are also structural bases of the ethnic contradiction. The vast majority of Guatemalan Indians are also part of the 87 percent of the population that lives in poverty. Hence, it is necessary to recast Guatemala's structural crises in their ethnic-national dimensions. This chapter summarizes existing research about women in the Guatemalan labor force. Traditional census data are unreliable, often contradicted by other surveys; an in-depth two-volume statistical study was published by Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in 1989, including data up to 1987. In sum, by the end of the 1980s, the Guatemalan economy was in crisis at virtually all levels, with little prospect for short-run improvement. The class base of official government policy was narrower than ever, and this had become an obstacle to economic growth.