In Defence of Maya Land, Lives, and Dignity: Co-Creating Pathways out of Structural and Slow Violence via Community Mobilising, Mapping, and Art

This project uses an intersectional and rights-based research design comprised of qualitative methods to gather empirical evidence that fulfils the following objectives: 1) Analysing encroachments upon and contaminations to Maya ancestral lands and heritage sites by documenting violations of Free, Prior and Informed Consent being perpetrated by corporate and state entities; 2) Amplifying the voices of rural Maya communities regarding what living with dignity means to them; 3) Increasing gender equity in Maya economic development projects and internal governance; 4) Bridging the generational gap between elders and youth with respect to Maya cosmovisón (worldviews); and 5) Further developing an alternative economy based on solidarity, inclusion and indigenous practices of sustainable land use, agro-forestry and food production. 

Research Team: Dr Levi Gahman, University of Liverpool; Dr Gabrielle Hosein, University of the West Indies, Jamaica; Dr Filiberto Penados, University of Belize; Ms Cristina Coc, Julian Cho Society; Maya Leaders Alliance, Belize; Dr Kathy Burrell, University of Liverpool