Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror / Edition 1

by Jeffrey A. Sluka

Overview

"There is real personal danger for anthropologists who dare to speak and write against terror; by doing so, they potentially and sometimes actually bring the terror down on themselves."—Jeffrey A. Sluka, from the Introduction

Death Squad is the first work to focus specifically on the anthropology of state terror. It brings together an international group of anthropologists who have done extensive research in areas marked by extreme forms of state violence and who have studied state terror from the perspective of victims and survivors.

The book presents eight case studies from seven countries—Spain, India (Punjab and Kashmir), Argentina, Guatemala, Northern Ireland, Indonesia, and the Philippines—to demonstrate the cultural complexities and ambiguities of terror when viewed at the local level and from the participants' point of view. Contributors deal with such topics as the role of Loyalist death squads in the culture of terror in Northern Ireland, the three-tier mechanism of state terror in Indonesia, the complex role of religion in violence by both the state and insurgents in Punjab and Kashmir, and the ways in which "disappearances" are used to destabilize and demoralize opponents of the state in Argentina, Guatemala, and India.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812217117
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	10/07/1999
Series:	The Ethnography of Political Violence
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey A. Sluka is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at Massey Universityin New Zealand. He is the author of Hearts and Minds, Water and Fish: Popular Support for the IRA and INLA in a Northern Irish Ghetto.

Table of Contents

Introduction
State Terror and Anthropology
—Jeffrey A. Sluka
1. A Fictional Reality: Paramilitary Death Squads and the Construction of State Terror in Spain
—Begona Aretxaga
2. Trials by Fire: Dynamics of Terror in Punjab and Kashmir
—Cynthia Keppley Mahmood
3. State Terror in the Netherworld: Disappearance and Reburial in Argentina
—Antonius C.G.M. Robben
4. The Homogenizing Effects of State-Sponsored Terrorism: The Case of Guatemala
—Frank M. Afflitto
5. "For God and Ulster": The Culture of Terror and Loyalist Death Squads in Northern Ireland
—Jeffrey A. Sluka
6. Ninjas, Nanggalas, Monuments, and Mossad Manuals: An Anthropology of Indonesian State Terror in East Timor
—George J. Aditjondro
7. Murder or Martyrdom? Popular Evaluations of Violent Death in the Muslim Separatist Movement in the Philippines
—Thomas M. McKenna
8. Parents and Their Children in Situations of Terror: Disappearances and Special Police Activity in Punjab
—Joyce Pettigrew
Conclusion
Death Squads and Wider Complicities: Dilemmas for the Anthropology of Violence
—Kay B. Warren

Editorial Reviews

"An inspiring and disquieting read."

International Journal of Human Rights

"An inspiring and disquieting read."— International Journal of Human Rights

From the Publisher