The Quiet Revolutionaries: Seeking Justice in Guatemala

Citation:

Afflitto, Frank M, and Paul Jesilow. 2007. The Quiet Revolutionaries: Seeking Justice in Guatemala. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Authors: Frank M. Afflitto, Paul Jesilow

Abstract:

The last three decades of the twentieth century brought relentless waves of death squads, political kidnappings, and other traumas to the people of Guatemala. Many people fled the country to escape the violence. Yet, at the same moment, a popular movement for justice brought together unlikely bands of behind-the-scenes heroes, blurring ethnic, geographic, and even class lines. The Quiet Revolutionaries is drawn from interviews conducted by Frank Afflitto in the early 1990s with more than eighty survivors of the state-sanctioned violence. Gathered under frequently life-threatening circumstances, the observations and recollections of these inspiring men and women form a unique perspective on collective efforts to produce change in politics, law, and public consciousness. Examined from a variety of perspectives, from sociological to historical, their stories form a rich ethnography. While it is still too soon to tell whether stable, long-term democracy will prevail in Guatemala, the successes of these fascinating individuals provide a unique understanding of revolutionary resistance. (WorldCat)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Chapter one: Some Background 11

Chapter two: Access Was Not Easy 31

Chapter three: Chronic Ambiguity 54

Chapter four: Seeking Justice 76

Chapter five: The Social Movement to End Impunity 100

Chapter six: The Movement Is Fragmented by the Peace Accords 129

Chapter seven: Identity, Rule of Law, and Democracy 149

Appendix 159

Notes 167

References 181

Index 203

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Society, Gender, Violence Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Guatemala

Year: 2007