This City Belongs to You

"The university became an important space of state formation in Guatemala throughout the twentieth century and a key battlefield during the Cold War. Yet, in a thick literature that has overwhelmingly prioritized rural and indigenous uprisings during this period, little attention has been given to urban students. Heather Vrana does just that in a fascinating and valuable work."—Jaime M. Pensado, author of Rebel Mexico: Student Unrest and Authoritarian Political Culture during the Long Sixties

"With this work, Vrana provides a new window on the making of contemporary Guatemala and goes far beyond a narrowly focused study of student politics. This is an important and intelligent book."— J.T. Way, author of The Mayan in the Mall: Globalization, Development, and the Making of Modern Guatemala

"This is a nuanced, thoughtful, and theoretically sophisticated work. Its focus on intellectual life and practice fills a large gap in understanding the history of Guatemala, and its impact will be felt widely. It illuminates the role of students, the university, nationalism, and spectacular mourning over a century of liberal republicanism, genocide, and neoliberalism. Vrana gracefully weaves the role of scholars into the production of the modern nation-state by examining philosophy, affect, and contradictions, and powerfully evokes young people’s clear-eyed strategizing and their poignant idealism in struggles for social change."—Diane M. Nelson, author of Reckoning: The Ends of War in Guatemala