Clientelistic Warfare: Paramilitaries and the State in Colombia (1982–2007) (Sociología política para los desafíos del siglo XXI)

Clientelistic Warfare analyzes the relationship between Colombian paramilitaries and the State in the period 1982–2007. Despite the attention that the paramilitaries demand, due to both the magnitude of their crimes and their specifi cities, understanding the nature of this interaction has proven to be complex. They were not a homogeneous, hierarchical force, but a protean network of highly localistic coalitions and units. Based on new and extensive empirical evidence, this book shows that even in diverse circumstances there was a set of basic mechanisms that established a link between the State and paramilitary factions, which marked the trajectory of the latter. These mechanisms, in turn, were permanently mediated by political institutions and the highly clientelistic Colombian polity. Therefore, without a close reading of the Colombian clientelistic politics and statehood, it is not possible to understand the interaction between the two entities. "This book analyzes the relationship between Colombian paramilitaries and the State in the period 1982-2007. Despite the attention that the paramilitaries demand, due to both the magnitude of their crimes and their specificities, understanding the nature of this interaction has proven to be complex. They were not a homogeneous, hierarchical force, but a protean network of highly localistic coalitions and units. Based on new and extensive empirical evidence, the book shows that even in diverse circumstances there was a set of basic mechanisms that established a link between the State and paramilitary factions, which influenced the trajectory of the latter. These mechanisms, in turn, were permanently mediated by political institutions and the highly clientelistic Colombian polity. Therefore, without a close reading of the Colombian clientelistic politics and statehood, it is not possible to understand the interaction between the two entities."--Provided by publisher Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 - The state-paramilitary relationship puzzle Chapter 2 - Democracy, clientelism, violence Chapter 3 - The Colombian war Chapter 4 - Paramilitary structures Chapter 5 - Trajectories and crises Chapter 6 - The paramilitaries, the army and the police Chapter 7 - Informational labyrinths Chapter 8 - Paramilitaries in politics: friends, factions and murderers Chapter 9 - Building the state from below? The take-over of the health system Cahpter 10 - The dynamics of coercive dispossession Conclusions Bibliography Index