Economic regulation and the value of concealment in highland Guatemala

Abstract

In this article, I contribute to conversations in anthropology regarding the dynamics of secrecy that so often attend to informal and illegal practices. Tracing the historical unfolding of an industry that involves indigenous Maya men who make clothing to sell in regional markets, I am interested in the contemporary value of concealment for clothing producers whose work was once regulated by the state, but is now regulated by an array of market and non-market actors. I find that practices of concealment hold particular value for Maya men whose relationships to various forms of political and economic authority have been marked largely by violence and exploitation.