'Paz, progreso, justica y honradez': law and citizenship in Alta Verapaz during the regime of Jorge Ubico

Explores changing conceptions and practices of 'rights' and 'justice' as expressed in the legal and administrative encounters between indigenous people and state officials during the regime of Jorge Ubico, 1931-1944. The extension of the state's administrative apparatus to remote rural areas, new legislation and changes in public administration transformed relations between working people, coffee 'finqueros' and the state in Guatemala. Although formally excluded from the category of citizens, Mayans used the official language and discourse of citizenship to further their claims, in turn reshaping the Guatemalan nation-state. (Original abstract - amended)