The social construction of difference for the reproduction of inequality: Maya youth in Yucatán

ABSTRACT We propose to analyze how difference is constructed in order to produce diverse inequalities along the lines of ethnicity, social class, generation, and gender, in Yaxcabá, a Maya village in Yucatán. We show how the people of Yaxcabá differentiate themselves ethnically through the use of surnames associated with either Maya or Spanish descent. This interethnic classification system emerges from a collective imaginary that employs a supposed cultural difference to reproduce social, economic, and symbolic inequalities. These are then used to justify discriminatory practices by Yaxcabá people who claim Spanish origin against other community members who are identified as of indian origin. These practices are expressed through a complex social organization between family groups, linking and confronting different collective, essentialized, and stigmatized identities, which serve to establish social and prestige positions. We show how other inequalities are compiled on top of this ethnic differentiation, such as generational inequality and gender inequality. Women of Maya origin suffer a compounded inequality, rooted in Mayan language and culture, which subordinates them to men. All of this motivates young men and women to desire to change their social situation.