The Mayan in the Mall

"Finally, a history of Guatemala City, a place that most scholars flee from despite its centrality to Guatemala's history. J. T. Way has unearthed a wealth of material from archival, literary, and oral sources. In striking and vibrant detail, he skillfully traces the history of neighborhoods and individuals from the first half of the twentieth century to today and he uses this history to open up a remarkable and original discussion of the play of ethnicity and modernity in the making of a cultural texture and urban political economy that uses the 'Mayan' in the absence of Mayas, or worse, in the presence of their oppression. The Mayan in the Mall brings to life the city's residents in this 'society of vendors' and simultaneously delivers a devastating and brilliant critique of development." - Deborah T. Levenson, coeditor of The Guatemala Reader: History, Culture, Politics

“The quirky mind of J. T. Way reveals a Guatemala not even seasoned hands are likely to recognize, one deformed by development in myriad modernist guise, a curse to most of its citizens, the blessing of a venal few.” - W. George Lovell, Queen’s University, Canada

“The shift away from the highlands indigenous communities that have generally attracted North American scholarly attention opens a novel perspective on the making of what Way calls the ‘manmade ruin’ of Guatemala’s contemporary social and physical landscape.” - Carlota McAllister, American Historical Review

“Both scholarly and highly personal, J. T. Way’s book is too rich in original insights, skillfully developed examples, and provocative arguments to do it full justice in so short a space. It is enough to state that it should be required reading for anyone interested in Guatemala’s recent history. Also, it is highly recommended to all students of development and modernization in general.” - Stephen Webre, Hispanic American Historical Review

“…[A] fascinating narrative that complicates both sequence and chronology by weaving the hitherto hidden logic of everyday survival and resistance with the ‘rational’ logic of a demythologized and demystified ‘modernity.’” - Susan A. Berger, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“Overall, Way’s book constitutes a solid critique of capitalism and national development ideology as it has been articulated in Guatemala. …[I]t has commendable strengths as a critical analytic exercise.” - Luis Fernando Angosto Ferrández, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research

“The Mayan in the Mall is a complex and admirable work that explores how the violent world inhabited by Guatemala's poor majority came into being…. Way's combination of empathy and hard-bitten realism gives an incomparable view of how people live their lives when choices are few and opportunity is infinitesimal.” - Cyrus Veeser, Business History Review

“This is an excellent book, in part because it is a thoroughly researched consideration of the relationship between poverty, development, the trajectory of politics in Guatemala, and real life. But its excellence is also rooted in the author's success in writing a study infusing observations born of scholarly research with a heartfelt and sharply phrased c ritique that moves beyond a clichéd academic celebration of radical politics. . . . Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries.“ - J. M. Rosenthal, Choice

“The strength of The Mayan in the Mall resonates from the author's use of personal stories to illustrate broader themes, his attention to metaphor, and his dialectical contemplation…. [T]his book will certainly appeal to scholars of Guatemala as the first English-language history of its capital city in addition to general readers of urban studies.” - Michael D. Kirkpatrick, Canadian Journal of History

“I suggest that The Mayan in the Mall should be placed at the top of the reading list of all visitors to Guatemala—professionals and, in particular, us 'Maya specialists' and tourists alike.” - Jessica Joyce Christie, Ethnohistory

“Scholars interested in urban history, gender history, and the history of development will find Way’s book enlightening and at times evocative in its treatment of Guatemala’s turbulent history. They will discover a well-researched work that sketches the interrelationships between urban growth, state formation, and capitalism.” - Bonar L. Hernandez, The Americas

“The Mayan in the Mall, provides a welcome history of the making of modern Guatemala since the 1920s that innovatively melds historical research with analysis of contemporary cultural trends and ethnography. The author seamlessly narrates Guatemala’s conflicted past and fraught present through the stories of its diverse protagonists, whether using historical records, oral histories, or contemporary interviews and observations. The book deftly shows how larger structures and politics (from regional to national to transnational) impinged on everyday lives as everyday people like butchers, social workers, vendors, and activists also actively shaped the unfolding of history and the particular geography of Guatemala.”  - Rebecca Galemba, The Latin Americanist

"Gives us new insights into the historical events that preceded Guatemala’s 1954 coup and twentieth-century Guatemalan ideologies of race andethnicity, while bringing the reader closer to understanding how the civil war forever transformed Guatemalan culture and society."  - Ashley Kistler, Latin American Research Review

"Way’s decision to emphasize the transformation of the city during this time period enriches our understanding of the Cold War roots ofcontemporary Guatemala’s most pressing issues." - Andrew Kirkendall, Human Rights Review