Abstract

ALEJOS GARCIA, José O.. Identidad maya y globalización. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2006, vol.27, pp.73-97. ISSN 0185-2574.

Luhmann's theory of the social system is discussed critically in this paper, as a dominant model that characterizes the relationship of system and "environment", of modernity and its cultural others, of globalization and the Maya people. Globalization is considered in its ideologic and political aspects, as a model and a discourse of domination, that weighs over indigenous life and ways of thinking. The analysis of cultural concepts and ethnographic evidence leads to the recognition of an "inclusive" conception of identity and alterity among the Maya, which opposes to that of modernity and globalization. Such contrast allows us to understand indigenous cultures in a dialogic relationship with globalization, and their identities as ethnic models with alternative proposals for the world today.