7792662 - Gómez Recinos - Thesis: Ladina Mestiza as a Political Identity in Guatemala

Abstract

This research aims to explore the possibility of collectively building a new ladina-mestiza political identity within the Guatemalan context and women’s movement, mainly based in two decolonial feminist perspectives. First, the new mestiza consciousness of Gloria Anzaldúa (1987) and secondly, in the ladina-mestiza political identity proposed by Yolanda Aguilar (2019). Ladino is a category created by colonial elites in Guatemala, that in the 19th century became the official identity to include all non-indigenous people, as such it aspires to Western whiteness and lifestyle (Taracena, 2019). Historically, ladina feminists have made reflections to deconstruct, to a certain extent, the Western feminism that influenced the women's movement in Guatemala. These theoretical-political learnings and points of tension have mainly been around gender and social class oppressions. (Monzón, 2015) As Aguilar (2019) remarks, ladina women have done personal and collective reflections on mestizaje, over the last decades in the country. The reflections on who they are and where they come from have led some to self-identify as mestizas. However, there is still a pending discussion in terms of racism within the women’s movement. As Aguilar proposed in her book Femestizajes (2019), the category ladina-mestiza as a political identity offers a new horizon to critically acknowledge the racist past and the anti-racist present of the ladina women questioning their privileges. In this research, I aim to shed light on the question: what is the political potential of mobilizing a new ladina-mestiza consciousness as a political identity in Guatemala?