This study is the synthesis of the CALAS Transatlantic Knowledge Lab: “Visions of Peace. Transitions between Violence and Peace in Latin America” (2019-2021). The book reflects on the epistemological challenge of this research project, which starts from the hypothesis that peace and violence are not mutually exclusive, but interrelated. The authors investigate the complex interrelationship and transition processes between peace and violence in Latin American and Caribbean societies. The result is a broad analysis of different peace processes considering their origins, particularities and strategies to overcome violence. Special attention is given to transition processes, which are influenced by a number of factors, such as economic and political interests, structures, social mobilization and cultural dynamics. The study examines transition processes in their historical depth and analyzes the interplay of institutions, systems and structures on the one hand, and the organizational processes of collective and individual actors on the other.

The volume focuses on the origins and phenomena of political, social and symbolic violence and contrasts them with very different Latin American peace processes in the 20th century. In particular, it reflects on the possibilities of peace by including epistemologies and aesthetics of peace in literature and film to detach the definition of peace from its negative opposition to violence and to elaborate the concept of an “affirmative peace”, which is understood as a horizon of life. Through several case studies from Latin America and the Caribbean, the paper provides a conceptual reflection on the processes of transition between peace and violence, while addressing literary, cultural and artistic representations of violence and the aesthetic possibilities of imagining peace.

The book is available bot as printed edition and as an e-book. To order please visit the Routledge website:

https://www.routledge.com/Peace-in-Latin-America-Shifting-Paradigms-in-t...