Reflections on Memory and Democracy ed. by Merilee S. Grindle and Erin Goodman (review)
MacKenzie extended his research by visiting Xecul communities in the United States and discovered that, in spite of immigration related difficulties, attachments to the Xecul community in Guatemala remains strong. In my personal observations, Maya immigrants in the United States often refer to their local populations as “the community,” especially when that community consists of people from the same hometown but also with mixed places of origin. In MacKenzie’s book, there is much that collaborates with and adds understanding to my observations about Guatemalan Maya diaspora groups. He gives new perspective on the concept of community and the ties to Guatemala that persist in the United States. Indeed, Mackenzie’s study of Xecul stands as an example of community in the contemporary period, and it will increase our ability to understand and work with Maya elsewhere in Guatemala and in the Maya Diaspora.