⭐ Sponsored by the Department of Native American Studies and University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Since the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords after a 36-year civil war, Guatemalan migration has increased throughout the postwar period to the present. Examining the political-economy of Guatemalan migration to the Greater Los Angeles region and the activities of migrants and migrant-led organizations, I argue that neoliberal capitalism not only provokes the displacement of Guatemalan migrants in the postwar period as a social class of people from multiple racial, and ethnic backgrounds, but it has also contributed to the emergence of distinct political Guatemalan diaspora organizations in the U.S. at the community, national, and transnational level. Moreover, activism emerges within destination countries because exploitation and exclusion take on distinct forms beyond the specific economic and political forces that generate displacement in migrants’ origin countries. As such, these organizations have made significant contributions by safeguarding the human rights of Guatemalan migrants in the U.S. and have emerged based on the differences and inequalities faced by indigenous Maya communities compared to non-indigenous Ladino groups.

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