Civilian Participation in Violence and Politics: Ideology, networks, and action in Peru, 1980-1992

• In Event: Power and Passion: Ideologies, Struggle and Liberation

Abstract

In Peru, where Sendero Luminoso mounted a war against the state during the 1980s, campesinos participated and responded in various ways. Rebels saw peasants as “the principal motor force” of the revolution, but Sendero’s efforts to engender mass support had distinct consequences throughout the country. In the southern altiplano of Puno, a robust civil society and leftist parties countered rebels’ attacks and attempts at cooptation of peasant struggles. In Ayacucho, the rebels gained support in many localities, exploiting the weaknesses of a young regional political movement that failed to articulate peasants’ demands and interests.

What explains these divergent outcomes in civilian support and modes of participation? In part, the variation is the product of different interpretations of Marxist thought, embedded in a varied history of Left activists’ strategies of mobilization. Far from simply happening to a pre-political peasantry, Sendero’s actions and civilian responses must be understood in a context of historical mobilization and articulations of ideologies.

Indeed, civilians were agents and articulators of political mobilization, while rebels coopted and exploited social and political networks, which are shaped by a long trajectory of political ideas about race, citizenship, and class.

Through a comparative study of civilian action in response to rebel operations in two regions, I argue that not only whether – but how – people participate during civil war depends on rebels’ particular ideological interpretations. These ideas mold membership, social relationships, and networks of participation.

Author

• Devin M Finn