Organized in the mid-1970s as a means of communal protection
against livestock rustling and general thievery in Peru's rugged
northern mountains, the "rondas campesinas" (peasants who make the
rounds) grew into an entire system of peasant justice and one of
the most significant Andean social movements of the late twentieth
century. "Nightwatch" is the first full-length ethnography and the
only study in English to examine this grassroots agrarian social
movement, which became a rallying point for rural pride.
Drawing on fieldwork conducted over the course of a decade, Orin
Starn chronicles the historical conditions that led to the
formation of the rondas, the social and geographical expansion of
the movement, and its gradual decline in the 1990s. Throughout this
anecdotal yet deeply analytical account, the author relies on
interviews with ronda participants, villagers, and Peru's regional
and national leaders to explore the role of women, the involvement
of nongovernmental organizations, and struggles for leadership
within the rondas. Starn moves easily from global to local contexts
and from the fifteenth to the twentieth century, presenting this
movement in a straightforward manner that makes it accessible to
both specialists and nonspecialists.
An engagingly written story of village mobilization, "Nightwatch"
is also a meditation on the nature of fieldwork, the representation
of subaltern people, the relationship between resistance and power,
and what it means to be politically active at the end of the
century. It will appeal widely to scholars and students of
anthropology, Latin American studies, cultural studies, history,
subaltern studies, and those interested in the politics of social
movements.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
