Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980-1995

This book exists in Spanish under the title: LOS SENDEROS INSÓLITOS DEL PERÚ, GUERRA Y SOCIEDADES 1980–1995. Search by the author's surname: STERN. The agenda of this book is to move "beyond enigma" by bringing the art of contextualized historical analysis to the war that engulfed and redefined Peruvian society from 1980 to 1995. I have argued that the sense of enigma surrounding the Sendero phenomenon and Peru more generally is understandable. But the task faced here is to historicize and contextualize the social origins, dynamics, and consequences of a time that constituted a major watershed, when much was at stake and long-lasting legacies were forged. This book, then, is a collective effort to build a historical analysis of war and society in Peru's time of upheaval. We undertake this task through analysis of five themes: the historical roots of political convulsion and revolutionary projects in the highlands, the failed struggle of Shining Path to conquer the people of the centre-south highlands, the war experience of women and their emergence as new citizen-subjects, and the consequences of the war for political rule and political culture. These themes are considered in parts I to V, respectively, of this book, and in a brief conclusion that sets forth findings that cut across the various book sections.