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Violence, Fear, and Impunity in Post-War Guatemala

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Violent Reverberations

Part of the book series: Culture, Mind, and Society ((CMAS))

Abstract

This chapter explores the impact of persistent violence in post-war Guatemala. Based on fieldworks in Quetzaltenango and El Petén, Ystanes argues that the trauma endured by the Guatemalan population is not located in the past nor isolated in the psyche of individuals. Persistent impunity, denials of the right to the truth, as well as new forms of violence mean that trauma in this context is most productively understood as the outcome of a cumulative process of slow and persistent violence, affecting the social body as well as individuals. This process reproduces the effects of counterinsurgency terror in the population and a political order maintained by fear.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Margit Ystanes

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  1. Margit Ystanes
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Centre for Advanced Study, Oslo, Norway

    Vigdis Broch-Due

  2. University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Bjørn Enge Bertelsen

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Ystanes, M. (2016). Violence, Fear, and Impunity in Post-War Guatemala. In: Broch-Due, V., Bertelsen, B. (eds) Violent Reverberations. Culture, Mind, and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39049-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39049-9_9

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39048-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39049-9

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