Guatemala's "Ten Years of Spring" (1944-1954) began when citizens overthrew a military dictatorship and ushered in a remarkable period of social reform. This decade of progressive policies ended abruptly when a coup d'etat, backed by the United States at the urging of the United Fruit Company, deposed a democratically elected president and set the stage for a period of systematic human rights abuses that endured for generations. Presenting the research of diverse anthropologists and historians, Out of the Shadow offers a new examination of this pivotal chapter in Latin American history.

Marshaling information on regions that have been neglected by other scholars, such as coastlines dominated by people of African descent, the contributors describe an era when Guatemalan peasants, Maya and non-Maya alike, embraced change, became landowners themselves, diversified agricultural production, and fully engaged in electoral democracy. Yet this volume also sheds light on the period's atrocities, such as the US Public Health Service's medical experimentation on Guatemalans between 1946 and 1948. Rethinking institutional memories of the Cold War, the book concludes by considering the process of translating memory into possibility among present-day urban activists.

About the Author

Julie Gibbings is a lecturer in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh and the author of the forthcoming Our Time Is Now: Race and Modernity in Postcolonial Guatemala.

Heather Vrana is an assistant professor of history at the University of Florida and the author of This City Belongs to You: A History of Student Activism in Guatemala, 1944-1996.

Reviews
By emphasizing narratives from 'new regions, new analytical frames, new historical actors, and new historical memories,' [Out of the Shadow] offers nuanced analysis that challenges the dominant, coup-centric interpretation of events...the volume offers a meticulous reflection of the period, region, and legacies of the revolution. * NACLA Report on the Americas *
Out of the Shadow presents new analysis and thought on the Guatemalan Revolution through threads of time, place, and a variety of actors, deepening understanding and adding to the existing literature on the subject...Out of the Shadow collectively reframes our understanding of the Guatemalan Revolution by bringing in new regions, new analysis, and new historical actors. The range of topics is wide and diverse, and its references extensive, making for absorbed reading and continued research by the reader. * Journal of Global South Studies *
As Guatemalans face neoliberalism, corruption, and dashed hopes following the peace accords, Out of the Shadow demonstrates that revolutionary ideals continue to resonate across the decades. These essays illuminate sociopolitical continuity and disruption, shifting memories, and new stories. The complexity offered here suggests that the revolution reformed existing institutional structures rather than replacing them. This critical volume excavates the forgotten revolutions while also attending to their enduring legacies and potency within the present, which suggest that revolutionary ideals remain even more urgent. * Hispanic American Historical Review *
Raises important questions about the role of anthropologists [in revolutionary periods] while tracing the ongoing legacies, impacts and remembrances of [the period]. * Bulletin of Latin American Research *



Book Information
ISBN 9781477320853
Author Julie Gibbings
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 653g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 30mm