The Politics of Reconciliation after Civil War: Challenges and Advances in Central and South America (LASA)

The Politics of Reconciliation after Civil War: Challenges and Advances in Central and South America Session - Organizer: David Scott Palmer, Boston University Chair: Christine J Wade, Washington College (865 // PPP - Panel - Sunday, 12:45pm - 2:15pm, Petit Trianon)

Overcoming State Repression: Political participation among Historically Marginalized Groups in Post-War Guatemala: Michael E Allison, University of Scranton; Kürşad Turan, Gazi University 

Peace in the Public Space: Comparative post-War Reconciliation and State Response in El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, and Chile: Christine J Wade, Washington College

El reto de la reinsercion del estado en zonas de conflicto: Un estudio de la educacion publica en distritos lejanos del VRAEM peruano: Mariano Arones Palomino, Universidad de Huamanga

The Multiple Challanges of Post-Conflict Reconciliation through Government Reparations in Peru: David Scott Palmer, Boston University

I am heading to New York City tomorrow to attend the XXXIV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). I haven't been to LASA since 2010. As a political scientist graduate student, I felt a bit out of place at LASA for some reason. I preferred attending the ISA or smaller, more intimate gatherings of Latin Americanists. Given that LASA was celebrating its 50th anniversary in my hometown, I thought that I would give it another shot.

I am presenting a new research project related to Guatemala Sunday afternoon. My co-authored (whose visa decision was delayed by the embassy until it was too late to come to LASA) and I were motivated by comments made by reviewers on my recent papers. They kept referring to low rates of voter turnout in Guatemala.

I had to argue that low voter turnout was not really a problem in Guatemala. For some Guatemalan analysts I spoke with, it actually was one of the major accomplishments of recent Guatemalan political history. Perhaps turnout increased for not so good reasons (increased patronage, vote buying, etc.) but it increased nonetheless. So this project begins our look at voter turnout in Guatemala.

Here's the abstract:

Between 1960 and 1996, an estimated 200-250,000 Guatemalans were killed or disappeared during a thirty-six year conflict. Most victims were indigenous civilians killed at the hands of the State during its war against various rebel groups. Competitive elections returned to Guatemala in 1985. Further democratization occurred with the 1996 peace accords and the revolutionary left’s participation in the 1999 national elections.

Part of the path to reconciliation in post-civil war Guatemala involved the encouragement of historically discriminated against groups to participate in the political process as voters and as organized political parties. In this paper, we ask to what extent did civil war violence effect turnout amongst voters living in those areas most significantly affected by civil war violence? And how did voter turnout in communities most severely affected by civil war violence subsequently affect the electoral performance of Guatemala’s former rebel group, the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit (URNG), as a political party?

I should be in NYC tomorrow afternoon. Shoot me an email or tweet if you'd like to meet up for a drink. (If you'd like to share your research on this blog, I'd be happy to do that as well.)