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'Cultural appropriation in fashion: Critiquing the dispossession of Mayan Culture in Guatemala
Congratulations to Brenda Mondragon and Theresa O'Keefe on the publication of the article 'Cultural appropriation in fashion: Critiquing the dispossession of Mayan Culture in Guatemala' in the International Journal of Fashion Studies in April 2021 - Volume 8, Number 1, April 2021, pp. 131-138(8)
The article aims to discuss the connections that exist between cultural appropriation and the fashion industry. Through their work, Theresa and Brenda want to broaden the theoretical understanding of cultural appropriation as an extractivist practice embedded in post-colonial power relations. In order to do so, they look in this article at the National Weavers Movement in Guatemala, which has devised different strategies to protect Mayan textiles from economic and symbolic exploitation by the creative and tourist industries. This movement, and many others, have resisted extractivist practices for centuries, and their struggle has the purpose of stopping the commodification of their tangible and intangible cultures. Finally, the article emphasises the importance of having an open dialogue within the fashion industry to engage and listen to these movements' demands.
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/infs/2021/00000008/00000001/art00009