Epistemic Racism and Democracy in Guatemala: Indigenous Authorities as Political Thinkers or Protesters?
Speaker: Dr. Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj, is a Maya K’iche’ anthropologist, writer, and journalist from Guatemala. Dr. Velásquez Nimatuj is internationally recognized for her scholarship and activism on Indigenous rights, racism, gender, land, and decolonial thought.
Moderator: Marisa G. Ruiz Trejo, Edward Larocque Tinker Visiting Professor, ILAS and Department of Anthropology, Columbia University
This presentation examines how epistemic racism shapes the recognition of Indigenous authority and the limits of democracy in Guatemala. It asks whether Indigenous authorities are recognized as political thinkers who produce knowledge, law, and forms of government, or reduced to protesters whose actions must be managed or criminalized. Drawing primarily on Indigenous scholars, it argues that epistemic racism is not simply the dismissal of Indigenous knowledge: it is a structure of power that denies Indigenous peoples recognition as legitimate producers of political thought and public authority.
The analysis centers on the Indigenous-led mobilization that began in October 2023 to defend the electoral results and constitutional order. Through assemblies, collective deliberation, rotating responsibilities, delegated mandates, and accountability to their communities, Indigenous authorities demonstrated political principles and governing practices that sustained the defense of democracy. Yet public and institutional narratives frequently portrayed these actions as disruption rather than as expressions of legitimate authority. The presentation also examines how criminalization can translate the exercise of Indigenous authority and territorial defense into alleged offenses, displacing political debate into penal proceedings.
Ultimately, the presentation argues that celebrating Indigenous peoples as defenders of democracy while excluding their political thought from institutional decision-making reproduces racial hierarchies. Confronting epistemic racism therefore requires more than cultural recognition or symbolic inclusion: it demands a redistribution of authority, recognition of Indigenous legal and political institutions, and changes in how knowledge is produced and validated. The challenge is not to turn Indigenous authorities into political thinkers, but to stop treating them as though they are not.
A light lunch will be served.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER), the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society (ICLS), and the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS).
Registration is required for all individuals not affiliated with Columbia University, due to campus security protocols. Registration closes at 2 pm the day before the event. Columbia affiliates can attend without registering, but we kindly appreciate it if you register to help us plan event logistics.
