http://h-net2.msu.edu/~books/reviews/0209.html forwarded from H-Review > Davis on Eber, _Women & Alcohol In A Highland Maya Town_ > > H-Net Review Project ([log in to unmask]) > Wed, 10 Apr 1996 19:12:19 -0400 (EDT) > > > H-NET BOOK REVIEW > Published by [log in to unmask] (December, 1995) > > Christine Eber. _Women & Alcohol In A Highland Maya Town: Water Of > Hope > Of Sorrow_. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995 303 pp. > > Reviewed by Kate Davis, University of California Berkeley, for > H-Latam <[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]>. > > _Women & Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town: Water of > Hope, Water of Sorrow_ is a well-written feminist analysis of > culture, tradition, gender, and alcohol use within a Highland > Chiapas community. Eber states that her research was guided by > two primary questions: "How is women's relationship to alcohol > changing in Chenalho, and how are Pedranas handling their own > and others' drinking problems?" (p.3) While her focus is on > women in particular, her efforts to contextualize the study > within the historical, cultural, and spiritual framework of an > indigenous community broadens her work by providing a basic > understanding of community life as a whole. > > Eber's method of feminist analysis which includes > symbolic systems, historical materialism, and social > construction of gender provides a solid, but not rigid, > research framework which she uses quite masterfully. One of > the most intriguing and ultimately effective aspects of this > book is the choice of storytelling as the vehicle for > presenting her research and analysis. This platform allows her > to give voice to the women she worked with in Chenalho. While > that voice is filtered through Eber's own personal and > professional assumptions and experience, it is nevertheless a > sincere and quite effective attempt. Eber does not pretend to > be an "objective" participant-observer. Rather, she includes > her own thoughts, feelings, and actions which gives the reader > a three-dimensional perspective of the relationships Eber had > with the women she studied. Eber's methodology and literary > style added depth to the analysis of a very complicated > cultural, social, and economic system. > > One of the main themes evident throughout the book is, > of course, alcohol. Eber's analysis of the dialectical role of > rum is excellent. Rum is a powerful substance within the > context of traditional spirituality while it destroys people's > ability to follow a path that demonstrates understanding of > their god's desires for individual and community behavior. Rum > is empowering and debilitating. Rum is cause and cure. Alcohol > eases the pain of the economic exploitation in which alcohol > was an effective tool of the Ladinos. Alcohol > created/increased the pain of women and children through > escalating domestic violence. The sale of alcohol (usually by > women) often provided the only source of income for a family. > Economic exploitation of Ladinos contributes to poverty, > violence, alcohol consumption and frustration to a level that > challenges the ability of Pedrano communities to maintain > their culture and reject mestisoization. However, Eber does > make the reader aware that for some in the community, > especially the young, mestisoization is an attractive > alternative to poverty and oppression. > > Alcohol is only one of many contributing factors in > cultural, gender, and structural changes occurring in Highland > communities. Ladino domination of indigenous peoples sets up > an increasingly intolerable imbalance of power. Power > struggles between Pedranos, Ladinos, and mestisoized > indigenous people occur with increasing frequency. There are > also internal power struggles within the community in which > land and women are symbols of the struggle over autonomy and > freedom from Ladino exploitation. As Pedranos become more > powerless and aware of that condition, they turn with greater > frequency to domestic violence which jeopardizes family and > community structure as well as the health and lives of women > and children (200). Economic instability in Mexico contributes > to the significant re-definition and re-situating of > traditional gender roles when women are forced to become > breadwinners in whole or in part (69). > > In the chapter on "Traditions, Religion, and Drinking" > Eber's analysis of the spiritual, religious, economic, > political, and cultural aspects of Catholic Action, > Protestantism, and Traditionalism is especially powerful. > Protestant churches offered Pedrano communities entry into a > capitalist economic system (217), improved living conditions, > and required abstinence from alcohol. With the help of priests > and nuns, Catholic Action lay leaders "organize their > communities into small groups which identify and study the > sources of their economic exploitation and political > oppression, and develop strategies to confront these (223). > Nuns (madres) work with women to place their "agenda within an > overall economic and political liberation context" (226) > without stressing the radicalism within feminist theology. > > I found the comparison/contrast between the alcoholics > in the indigenous community and Alcoholics Anonymous in the > U.S. a bit disconcerting. While I find cross-cultural > comparisons important and useful, a comparison between the > wealthiest country and one of the poorest communities in the > world was, for me, ineffective. Near the end of the book Eber > states that AA does exist in San Cristobal. It would be more > useful to know whether AA in Mexico was successful in helping > indigenous people stop drinking. Was the group in San > Cristobal strictly Ladino? Did AA groups reach out to > indigenous communities? If there were no meetings, groups, or > outreach services to the Highland Chiapas communities then why > was AA used as a point of comparison/contrast? > > This book is an important contribution to studies of > indigenous communities and especially gender issues within > those communities. It is clearly analyzed, artfully written, > and perceptive. Perhaps one of the central contributions of > this work is the lesson Eber credits Pedranas with teaching > her. "[T]ake women's concerns out of a western framework of > individual rights and put them into their framework of > community and cultural survival." (242) This same advice is > especially useful when studying and analyzing different > cultures, ethnicities, and races. It is also one of the most > difficult tasks of a researcher, but one that is crucial to an > attempt to give voice to the people we study and work with. > > Copyright (c) 1995 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work > may be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit > is given to the author and the list. For other permission, > please contact [log in to unmask] > > Comment on this review and/or book > Comment on Teaching this book > > * Next message: H-Net Review Project: "Van Ells on Lowry, _The > Story_" > * Previous message: H-Net Review Project: "Bogue on Shefter, > _Political Parties and The State_"