Our Time is Now: Race and Modernity in Postcolonial Guatemala

Postcolonial histories have highlighted the darker side of narratives of historical progress, such as primitiveness, backwardness, and underdevelopment, which have racialized and gendered peoples and regions and ranked them on a naturalized timeline. Julie Gibbings' book Our Time is Now reveals that modernity particularly appealed to those excluded from power, as it offered an aspirational and future-oriented vision. Gibbings demonstrates how the struggle between indigenous people and settlers to manage contested ideas of time and history and practices of modern politics, economics, and social norms were central to the rise of coffee capitalism in Guatemala and to twentieth-century populist dictatorship and revolution.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 426 pages
Publication date: 14 April 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Postcolonial histories have delved into the darker aspects of narratives of historical progress, particularly in their contribution to underwriting global and racial hierarchies. Concepts such as primitiveness, backwardness, and underdevelopment have not only racialized and gendered individuals and regions but also placed them on a seemingly naturalized timeline, where their present is our past. This reimagining of the politics of capitalist expansion and colonization has framed it as an orderly and natural process of evolution towards modernity. Our Time is Now sheds light on the fact that modernity, particularly appealing to those excluded from power, holds a future-oriented perspective. In this process, marginalized peoples have creatively envisioned diverse political futures that challenge the racialized and temporal frameworks of modernity.

Julie Gibbings, in her book, employs a critical reading of a wide range of previously untapped sources to demonstrate how the struggle between indigenous people and settlers to manage contested ideas of time and history, as well as practices of modern politics, economics, and social norms, played a central role in the rise of coffee capitalism in Guatemala and the emergence of twentieth-century populist dictatorship and revolution.

This exploration of postcolonial histories highlights the complex and multifaceted ways in which historical narratives shape our understanding of the world. It underscores the need to critically examine these narratives and challenge the assumptions and hierarchies they perpetuate. By doing so, we can work towards a more inclusive and equitable future that recognizes the diversity and complexity of human experiences and histories.

Weight: 646g
Dimension: 152 x 227 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108733489
Edition number: New ed