Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond

by Jasmin Hristov

The people of Colombia have, for the last fifty years, been subject to a specific form of violence: paramilitarism. An embodiment of the underbelly of global capitalist accumulation, this form of pervasive violence expresses the exacerbation of social inequalities and class formation under capitalism. In Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism, Jasmin Hristov theorises this extreme expression in light of forced displacement, labour repression, subjugation of social movements, decentralisation of violence, drug trafficking and the emergence of a variety of para-institutional armed actors across Latin America.

The activities of paramilitary groups in the post­demobilisation era, their involvement in human rights violations, and their multi­level support networks inside major state institutions are documented, with a particular emphasis on violent dispossession and illegal land appropriation that has benefited agroindustries and mining enterprises. Hristov engages in a Marxist political economy approach, combined with a global sociological perspective, allowing for an expansive and deep-reaching understanding of paramilitarism as a phenomenon with many faces, ultimately illustrating how it is increasingly becoming the coercive counterpart of global capital.

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2014

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of how paramilitarism and neoliberalism coexist in the context of Colombia and other Latin American geographies. I want to pick up her earlier book. The most helpful concept was a critical interrogation of how extradition to the US of human rights violators is to the benefit of both Colombia and the US (e.g. it prevents prosecution by the ICC); there is also a helpful examination of how dangerous the BACRIM designation is when attempting to understand this phenomenon.

[Ondřej Plachý · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can serve as a great introduction into the problem of guerrillas. I found the most value from the initial chapters, where Hristov tries to argue for a paramilitary definition that goes against what was previously written. From her perspective, paramilitarism became a too abstract term in which many authors tried to incorporate different elements ranging from local militias, revolutionary guerrilla movements and drug cartel violence.

She offers a different approach uniting it with the Marx's concept of primitive accumulation - paramilitarism is something that gains on strength with neoliberalism - when Colombian government and elites made a final push against settlers, squatters and small landowners, and unlawfully gained control over their property and land, sending them to live as slum dwellers in major cities.

The book itself is quite short and well written, it also provides a chapter that helps reader with some introduction to Colombian history of political violence. I would recommend it especially to those readers who are concerned about the state of democracy in Colombia - Hristov argues that guerrillas keep on operating and that many grievances were never settled, despite what the government execs keep saying...

[Jonathan Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating exploration of the violence that has affected Colombia for decades, specifically from the paramilitary. While also providing background about the creation and motivations of the country's paramilitary, this book also sheds light on the argument that the paramilitary has not ceased committing acts of violence on behalf of the state and international corporations by tormenting, displacing, and robbing people of their land in order to maximize profits for the powerful. For anybody interested in learning about the paramilitary groups that have terrorized Colombia, this book, written by an academic, but in a way that is very accessible, with plenty of journalistic integrity, is a great read.

[Jane Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting Colombia I became interested in the causes of the many people who had been displaced from the countryside and ended up creating slum housing above Medellin. This book gives great insight into the relationship between the guerrillas, paramilitary groups, the state,drug trafficking and foreign investment that resulted in displacement of small landowners and suppression of labor unions.

[Mehmet Kalaycı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that demonstrates, this time using Colombia as an case in point, that a country's poverty and underdevelopment is caused by the rich, not the poor. Human rights violations, internal migration, occupation of indigenous territories, armed group terrorism - all are justified to protect the capital of the rich.