Sergio Guillermo Palencia Frener

I am a Guatemalan and Central American anthropologist and sociologist. Before joining the College of William & Mary, I have taught at the City University of New York, Universidad Rafael Landivar, and Universidad Del Valle, Sololá campus, in the Maya highlands of Guatemala. My research brings together three important strands of native studies, interethnic relations, and political economy in the Americas: a longue-durée understanding of indigenous experiences of state and plantation formation in Mesoamerica (Central America and Mexico); Maya communal politics and relations with nonindigenous sectors during the Guatemalan war in 1954–1996; and contemporary indigenous experiences under increasing commodification (electricity, land) and diasporic reconfigurations in the 21st century.