Between Legitimacy and Violence

Palacios Marco Palacios, Stoller Richard Stoller

Description

Between Legitimacy and Violence is an authoritative, sweeping history of Colombia's "long twentieth century," from the tumultuous civil wars of the late nineteenth century to the drug wars of the late twentieth. Marco Palacios, a leading Latin American historian, skillfully blends political, economic, social, and cultural history. In an expansive chronological narrative full of vivid detail, he explains Colombia's political history, discussing key leaders, laws, parties, and ideologies; corruption and inefficiency; and the paradoxical nature of government institutions, which, while stable and enduring, are unable to prevent frequent and extreme outbursts of violence. Palacios traces the trajectory of the economy, addressing agriculture (particularly the economic significance of coffee), the development of a communication and transportation infrastructure, industrialization, and labor struggles. Palacios also gives extensive attention to persistent social inequalities, the role of the Catholic Church, demographic shifts such as urbanization and emigration, and Colombia's relationship with the United States. Offering a comparative perspective, he frequently contrasts Colombia with other Latin American nations. Throughout, Palacios offers a helpful interpretive framework, connecting developments with their causes and consequences. By thoroughly illuminating Colombia's past, Between Legitimacy and Violence sheds much-needed light on the country's violent present.

Sujets

• Histoire
• América del Sur
• 20th century
• South America
• History of the Americas
• Colombia

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 06 juin 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822387893
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

 Legitimacy  Violence

A book in the seriesLatin America In Translation/ En Traducción/Em Tradução Sponsored by the Duke–University of North Carolina Program in Latin American Studies

       Legitimacy    Violence                 ,     –    

Duke University Press

Marco Palacios

Translated by Richard Stoller

Durham and London 

nd printing, 

©  Duke University Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 

Designed by Heather Hensley

Typeset in Centaur by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

appear on the last printed page of this book.

firmly believe that all of us here today, and all of us who be- I long to this unfortunate generation, can say with pride that we have witnessed Colombia’s last civil war. Our grandchildren,

who will be born after this cycle of horrors, will find it hard to

understand what kind of insanity led to such bloodshed among

brothers. But we will be able to tell them, from our old age, exactly

how and why the last representatives of this cruel and intransi-

gent political fanaticism had the sad privilege of witnessing the

final hurricane in all its terrible devastation. It lasted over a thou-

sand days and left nothing standing, either materially or morally,

as it hurled Colombians into furious battle against one another.

We may not find absolution from our descendants, but if the fatal

inheritance does not reach them, it will be because we took all the

blame upon ourselves, so as to spare them.

    , 

Contents

viii Tables

ix Acknowledgments

xi Prologue to the Second Colombian Edition

Chapter  From Liberal Decay to Regeneration

Chapter  Liberal Economics, Conservative Politics

Chapter  From the Expansion of Citizenship to the Plutocratic Elite

Chapter  In the Shadow of the Violencia

Chapter  An Elusive Legitimacy

Chapter  Great Transformations within Continuity

 Epilogue

 Bibliographical Essay

 Index

Tables

. Indices of Urbanization, – (Percent) 

. Composition of Economically Active Population, –, by Sector (Percent) 

. Party Composition of the Colombian Congress, – 

. Electoral Participation and the Violencia, – 

. Party/Faction Composition of the Colombian Congress under the National Front, – 

. Principal Socioeconomic Indicators, – 

. Legal Exports and Illegal Drug Exports as Percentage of All Colombian Exports, – 

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend special thanks to my colleagues who sup- ported the publication of this work in English, especially Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, who encouraged me to approach Duke Uni- versity Press with the proposal. My thanks also to the press’s anonymous readers, for their useful comments.   , ..,  