Developing Destinies

Abstract

This book provides a unique window on the cultural nature of human development. The ideas are illustrated with the life and work of a Mayan woman who was born to be a sacred midwife. The ideas are revealed also in the changes and continuities of children's and families' ways of life in her Guatemalan Mayan town. In following the threads of culture and history in the life cycles of this Mayan midwife and her town, the book illuminates how individuals build on cultural heritage from prior generations and at the same time create new ways of living. The book documents changes and continuities across decades and centuries with extensive photographs as well as first-person accounts and research on birth, childrearing, and learning. This book argues that by examining how people participate in cultural practices, we can better understand the role of culture in our lives.