Date of Award
8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Gong, Yidong
Area of Concentration
International and Area Studies and Spanish Language and Literature
Abstract
Indigenous women in Guatemala face disproportionate rates of maternal mortality, malnutrition, and reproductive health disparities compared to non-indigenous women. These disparities persist, even after the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords formally committed the government to indigenous rights and improved healthcare. This thesis argues that this is the result of coloniality, neoliberal privatization, and the epistemological exclusion of Maya health knowledge from the official health system. The theoretical framework is based on coloniality of power and knowledge (Quijano 2000), abyssal thinking and ecology of knowledges (Santos 2014), coloniality of gender (Lugones 2008), structural violence (Farmer 1996), and decolonizing methodologies (Tuhiwai Smith 2021). Primary and secondary sources are analyzed, focusing on six indigenous-led women’s health organizations in Guatemala: ALIANMISAR, REDC-Salud, Wuqu’ Kawoq, CODECOT, Na’leb’ak, and Natün. The analysis demonstrates that these organizations succeed because they operate from a Maya epistemology that generates trust, authority, and care the official system cannot. These organizations are expressions of self-determination and decolonial resistance that challenge coloniality of power and knowledge that is embedded in Guatemala’s health system.
Recommended Citation
Diliberti, Alexandra, "The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author." (2026). Theses & ETDs. 7023.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/7023
Rights
The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.