Criminality, Political Power and Conflict - (Social and Political Power) by José Antonio Gutiérrez Danton & Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín (Hardcover)

About the Book

This volume brings together contributions from various scholars working on the intersections between political power, criminality and conflict in three continents. Through qualitative methods and rich empirical data, the volume contributes to the understanding of politicisation and criminalisation as processes that are largely co-constitutive and, at the same time, grounded historically.

Book Synopsis

In the aftermath of the greed vs. grievance debate and the new wars paradigm, the focus of conflict studies shifted decisively to understanding "predatory" behaviours as the raison d'etre of contemporary conflict. Conflict was viewed as a continuum in which the more you engage in criminal behaviour, the less political you are.This approach has been robustly criticised over the past 15 years; however, in the process, we have been left with unsuitable concepts to handle the complex interactions between civil war, political power and criminality. The departure point here is the understanding of politics and criminality as two historically differentiated domains of human activity. Different, but interrelated, often co-constitutive and overlapping. Here, we empirically and theoretically explore their interactions, connections, and convergences, not focusing solely on irregular actors, thus bringing back the State and elites into this debate.

From the Back Cover

For the last three decades, the focus of civil war studies has shifted decisively to understanding 'predatory' behaviours and rent-seeking as the raison d'etre of contemporary conflict. This approach has been robustly criticised over the past fifteen years; however, in the process, there are unsuitable concepts to handle the complex overlaps and interactions between civil war, political power and criminality. This volume offers a fresh look at this topic, understanding politics and criminality as two historically differentiated but interrelated domains of human activity.

Criminality, political power and conflict explores the interactions, connections and convergences of politics and criminality in conflict settings. Over the last few decades, entire communities have been criminalised due to their associations with different criminalised economic activities. This scale of illegalisation has opened a whole set of opportunities, resources and modalities of politicisation for armed actors, and in this process, the State is a central actor. This book does not focus solely on irregular actors but brings back the State and legal actors into this debate. The chapters visit and re-visit case studies in Colombia, Brazil, Ireland, Serbia, Perú, Venezuela and Burma, together with theoretical debates on the topic.

Through qualitative methods and rich empirical data, the volume contributes to the understanding of politicisation and criminalisation as processes that are largely co-constitutive and, at the same time, grounded historically. As conflict again becomes a 'hot topic' because of globally and domestically changing environments, the book will appeal those with an interest in intractable conflicts where many actors intervene.

About the Author

José A. Gutiérrez is lecturer at the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) at the University of York.

Francisco Gutiérrez-Sanín is lecturer at the Institute for Political Sudies and International Relations (IEPRI) at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá.