State and Extraction in the Guatemalan Social Formation

Abstract

This paper suggests that the notable persistence of Guatemala's political and social problems finds explanation in its historically configured social formation, realized in a State that articulates the double objective of maximizing extraction in favor of its elites and minimizing the investment that these must make in the rest of society, present to a peculiarly extreme degree. Failure to recognize this has led to technocratic interventions that seek institutional improvements without acknowledging the purpose of the complex of power, resources, and relationships that underlies these institutions. Using the academic literature and contemporary examples, this paper describes the logic that organizes that predation, summarizing features of the economic culture it generates and which contributes to reproduce it, and detailing key behaviors that translate that culture into means of effective institutional and social influence. The paper concludes by suggesting that, in order to be most effective, attempts at political, economic or institutional improvement will have to systematically and in a coordinated manner address these key traits and behaviors.