Applying the Harvard Gender Analytical Framework: A Case Study from a Guatemalan Maya-Mam Community

This paper assesses the effectiveness of the Harvard Gender Analytical Framework using a case study of a Maya-Mam community in Guatemala. Data were collected through participant observation, informal interviews and focus group discussions during the author's four and a half year involvement in a rural development project in Comitancillo, San Marcos. The study reveals the Harvard Gender Analytical Framework to be a useful tool in the examination of data, illuminating the distinctive dynamics of gender work relations in traditional subsistence activities and in activities linked with the national cash economy and social structure. However, it became evident that the Framework could provide a more comprehensive view if it were expanded to include other variables, among them additional aspects of community work.