ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the indigenous movements in the Latin American national societies and the struggles of ethnic groups. The 1980s witnessed, in Guatemala, a distinct intensification of the popular movement articulated by political-military organizations that explicitly proposed to transform the existing socioeconomic relations and forms of political domination. An analysis of the current ideological and political platforms of progressive national organizations shows a significant development regarding ethnicnational issues. Their acceptance of the necessary participation of indigenous ethnic groups in the country's sociocultural, economic, and political life has enhanced their understanding of democracy. The chapter discusses critiques and positive proposals for overcoming the reductionism that has limited the understanding of the new social movements. It expands on the criticism of ethnicism and objectivism in order to elucidate the theoretical and intellectual milieu in which issues such as the ethnic-national question and, particularly, autonomy have been reformulated.
