Open Wounds. On the Fear of the Resurgence of Terrorism and the Reflective and Reparative Responses of Society

The effects of fear are discussed at a social level, as an impediment to processing the shared past, integrating the present with history, and resolving differences on the basis of dialogue and respect for other perspectives. Brief references to the rise and operating methods of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, the State's corresponding counter-subversive response, and incidents related to the possible resurgence of that group at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima) in the midst of an electoral process are considered to reflect on how the university, as a space for collective processing of the past and an institution with democratic aspirations, encounters difficulties when violence has also affected the forms of relationship among social actors. In this way, responses rooted in polarization in the face of anxiety are found, linked to the psychosocial aftereffects of violence.