Political Violence in Peacetime 10.5102/uri.v12i1.2872

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to have a descriptive analysis of political violence in ten South American countries, between 2008 and 2011, from an exhaustive data systematics survey, collected from local newspapers, adopting a methodology well consolidated in this type of research. My hypothesis is that even distant from a war context and without the former bipolarity between capitalism and communism, violent conflicts in the region not only are frequent – despite the democratic advances and the relative economic stability – as they are results from a combination of social inequality and political exclusion. I argue that inclusive institutions, which are those that instead of repel they attract political opponents and actors, play a decisive role in significantly decreasing Political Violence Events (PVEs), especially in a continent marked by very heterogeneous societies. As theoretical approach, I use specific area studies associated with views called Neoweberian Historical Sociology, in particular classic authors such as Charles Tilly.