Getting Organized

Abstract

For decades, Maya handicrafts vendors have been in conflict with the municipal government and the police of Antigua Guatemala over rights to sell in the city. This struggle is part of daily life for street vendors and those selling in the Compaiiia de Jesus marketplace. Over time, they have employed various strategies in order to stay in Antigua despite pressure from government officials and local businesspeople. Such conflicts are not unique; throughout the world, street vendors, especially, have clashed with local governments over the right to sell particular goods and to sell in particular locations (Castaieda, 1996; 1997; Clark, 1988; Cross, 1998a; 1998b; Dannhaeuser, 1989; Stoller, 2002). However, for handicrafts vendors in Guatemala and elsewhere in Latin America (Castafieda, 1996; Chibnik, 2003; Colloredo-Mansfeld, 1999; Grimes and Milgram, 2000; Nash, 1993a; Wood, 2000a; 2000b) the intensification of global economic and political processes is transforming the ways in which artisans and vendors make a living, construct their households, and organize politically. The political strategies that Maya vendors employ are a product of the intersection of handicrafts vending with globalization and especially international tourism. Vendors' economic connections with international tourists (averaging hundreds but amounting to thousands during Holy Week), the

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