Review by Choice Review
Cancian's excellent case study examines the complex changes in a small Maya community between 1960 and the mid-1980s. At first Zinacant'an was a simple, self-contained, inward-looking, distinctively dressed peasant community in which most men were corn farmers and cash played a relatively small role. Over the next two decades, with the construction of paved highways, the development of the petroleum industry, and the penetration by the state apparatus, both community and agriculture changed profoundly. The community became more consciously differentiated at a social level, with a noted decrease in harmony. Farming itself no longer represented the predominant occupation; corn farming became diversified with fruit and flower production, boosted by fertilizers and weed killers. The three segments of the study dealing with economy, public life, and social stratification are skillfully interwoven to explore the increasingly powerful external influences and to raise some important theoretical questions about the nature of change. Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty; professional. F. W. Knight; Johns Hopkins University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
