In the aftermath of a civil war, former enemies are left living
side by side--and often the enemy is a son-in-law, a godfather, an
old schoolmate, or the community that lies just across the valley.
Though the internal conflict in Peru at the end of the twentieth
century was incited and organized by insurgent Senderistas, the
violence and destruction were carried out not only by Peruvian
armed forces but also by civilians. In the wake of war, any given
Peruvian community may consist of ex-Senderistas, current
sympathizers, widows, orphans, army veterans--a volatile social
landscape. These survivors, though fully aware of the potential
danger posed by their neighbors, must nonetheless endeavor to live
and labor alongside their intimate enemies.Drawing on years of
research with communities in the highlands of Ayacucho, Kimberly
Theidon explores how Peruvians are rebuilding both individual lives
and collective existence following twenty years of armed conflict.
"Intimate Enemies" recounts the stories and dialogues of Peruvian
peasants and Theidon's own experiences to encompass the broad and
varied range of conciliatory practices: customary law before and
after the war, the practice of "arrepentimiento" (publicly
confessing one's actions and requesting pardon from one's peers), a
differentiation between forgiveness and reconciliation, and the
importance of storytelling to make sense of the past and recreate
moral order. The micropolitics of reconciliation in these
communities present an example of postwar coexistence that deeply
complicates the way we understand transitional justice, moral
sensibilities, and social life in the aftermath of war. Any effort
to understand postconflict reconstruction must be attuned to
devastation as well as to human tenacity for life.
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