Women in Resistance: Impacts on Land, Life, and Community

Zia Kandler, Oberlin CollegeFollow

Location

King Building 337

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-29-2016 2:45 PM

End Date

4-29-2016 3:45 PM

Abstract

Following the 1996 peace accord, which ended 36 years of civil conflict, Guatemalans have been struggling with state-sanctioned violence linked to neoliberal structural adjustments. In summer 2015, I recorded testimonials from women in a community that is actively resisting a mine that threatens their health and safety. The women spoke of the need to protect their water and land from the poison of the transnational companies. They articulated their desire for a change from the neoliberal capitalism that is forcing migration toward the global north, and they hope for a future where their voices are heard and lives are valued. Their stories humanize the determinantal effects of the neoliberal-extractivist model that thrives on the oppression of women and their health and futures, making a space for recognition, reflection, and advocacy toward a more just Guatemala.

Notes

Session II, Panel 9 - "On the Right Side of History": Studies of Structures, Agents, and Resistance
Moderator: Gina Perez, Associate Professor of Comparative American Studies

Major

Comparative American Studies

Advisor(s)

Janet Fiskio, Environmental Studies

Project Mentor(s)

Janet Fiskio, Environmental Studies

April 2016

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Apr 29th, 2:45 PM Apr 29th, 3:45 PM

Women in Resistance: Impacts on Land, Life, and Community

King Building 337

Following the 1996 peace accord, which ended 36 years of civil conflict, Guatemalans have been struggling with state-sanctioned violence linked to neoliberal structural adjustments. In summer 2015, I recorded testimonials from women in a community that is actively resisting a mine that threatens their health and safety. The women spoke of the need to protect their water and land from the poison of the transnational companies. They articulated their desire for a change from the neoliberal capitalism that is forcing migration toward the global north, and they hope for a future where their voices are heard and lives are valued. Their stories humanize the determinantal effects of the neoliberal-extractivist model that thrives on the oppression of women and their health and futures, making a space for recognition, reflection, and advocacy toward a more just Guatemala.