Mikrokonteksty przemocy w wojnie domowej. O konflikcie zbrojnym, lokalnych antagonizmach i siłach chłopskich w Peru

Abstract

MICRO CONTEXTS OF VIOLENCE IN THE CIVIL WAR: ON THE ARMED CONFLICT, LOCAL ANTAGONISMS AND PEASANT FORCES IN PERU

The article discusses the mechanisms of the Peruvian internal conflict development (1980‑2000), with particular emphasis on the beginning of military operations in the central‑southern province and the circumstances of the peasants’ involvement. In the text, I decolonize the image of comuneros as passive victims of political violence. I assume that they were generally involved in the armed conflict but they responded primarily not to the macro‑ but the micro‑conditions of the processes of violence (i.e. inter‑ and intra‑village antagonisms instead of the political competition of the irregular forces with the state that arose outside their community). The article looks, therefore, at the mechanisms of the Peruvian conflict before the beginning of village self‑defense forces and identifies the sources of civilian terror in the province as well as its impact on the further course of the war. The text is based on the existing sources describing the participation of the peasants in the struggles, confronted with the results of my fieldwork in Peru in 2005‑2010 and their update from 2015‑2019.