Intersectional justice denied: Racist warring masculinity, negative peace, and violence in post-peace accords El Salvador

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The skyrocketing violence in Central America calls upon scholars to examine the needed conditions for peace. This article challenges the assumption that the absence of violence among factions in conflict is the chief goal around which peacemaking efforts should operate. Based on ethnographic research with women relatives of male gang members and civil war veterans in El Salvador, I argue that the 1992 Salvadoran Peace Accords that ended twelve years of civil war developed a male-centered notion of negative peace that ended the armed conflict while naturalizing racialized state violence as part of security measures and ongoing violence against women as low-grade part of everyday life. In the post-accords era, gang members advance their version of negative peace, promising to protect women and the nation while continuing to oppress their women relatives. I suggest that the effective path to attain substantive peace is to proactively engage in intersectional justice to redress multiple and intersecting forms of violence. The consequences of peacemaking efforts without this attention will result in continued massive killing and immigration to the United States.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)39-52
Number of pages14
JournalAmerican Anthropologist
Volume124
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • gang violence
  • grassroots peacemaking
  • intersectional justice
  • racist warring masculinity
  • violence against women

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anthropology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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