Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America

Rachel A. Schwartz

doi:10.1017/9781009219907

Undermining the State from Within

The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America

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Schwartz, Rachel A. 2024. Embracing the Crisis of Research Design: How the Collapse of Case Selection in the Field Can Uncover New Discoveries. Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 22, Issue. 3, p. 836.

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Rachel A. Schwartz, University of Oklahoma

Publisher:: Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:: February 2023
Print publication year:: 2023
Online ISBN:: 9781009219907
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009219907

Subjects:: Area Studies, Latin American Studies, Politics and International Relations, Latin American Government, Politics and Policy, Comparative Politics

28.00 (GBP)

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Undermining the State from Within pulls back the curtain on the counterinsurgent state to better understand how conflict dynamics affect state institutions and continue to shape political and economic development in the postwar period. Drawing on unique archival and interview data from war and postwar Central America, this book illuminates how counterinsurgent actors, under the pretext of combatting an insurgent threat, introduce alternative rules within state institutions, which undermine core activities like tax collection, public security provision, and property administration. Moreover, it uncovers how the counterinsurgent elite outmaneuvers governance reforms during democratic transition and peacebuilding to preserve the predatory wartime status quo. In so doing, this book rethinks the relationship between war and state formation, challenges existing scholarly and policy approaches to peacebuilding and post-conflict institutional reform and contributes a new understanding of what civil war leaves behind in an institutional sense.

Winner, 2024 Donna Lee Van Cott Award, Latin American Studies Association

‘[A] masterful contribution to academic scholarship on legacies of civil war, with crucial implications for peacebuilding and democratic institutional development. It should be read by all academics and policymakers concerned with development in post-conflict settings, as well as scholars with diverse areas of focus.’

Laura R. Blume Source: Perspectives on Politics

‘[A] bold and ambitious book that is both theoretically distinctive and empirically rich. … this study does a monumental job explaining how informal institutional practices develop and persist in diverse postwar contexts, and the challenges associated with bringing about change.’

Rose J. Spalding Source: Journal of Latin American Studies

‘Recommended.’

C. M. Kovic Source: Choice

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Undermining the State from Within

The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America

This Book has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

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Contents

Undermining the State from Within
pp i-ii

Undermining the State from Within - Title page
pp iii-iii

Copyright page
pp iv-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Figures
pp vii-viii

Tables
pp ix-x

Preface
pp xi-xiv

Acknowledgments
pp xv-xviii

Abbreviations
pp xix-xxii

Part I - Foundations
pp 1-60

1 - Introduction
pp 3-32

2 - Theorizing Wartime Institutional Change and Survival
pp 33-60

Part II - Institutional Origins
pp 61-150

3 - Civil War in Central America
pp 63-88

4 - The Wartime Institutionalization of Customs Fraud in Guatemala
pp 89-110

5 - Ordering Police Violence
pp 111-127

6 - Land and Counterinsurgency
pp 128-150

Part III - Institutional Persistence
pp 151-262

7 - Transition, Peace, and Postwar Power in Central America
pp 153-179

8 - Guatemala
pp 180-200

9 - Guatemala
pp 201-218

10 - Nicaragua
pp 219-239

11 - Conclusion
pp 240-262

Appendix - List of Interviews and Archival Collections
pp 263-270

Bibliography
pp 271-302

Index
pp 303-310

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Undermining the State from Within

The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America

Book description

Awards

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Contents

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