How Difficult It Is to Be God: Shining Path's Politics of War in Peru, 1980–1999

The revolutionary war launched by Shining Path, a Maoist insurgency, was the most violent upheaval in modern Peru’s history, claiming some 70,000 lives in the 1980s–1990s and drawing widespread international attention. Yet for many observers, Shining Path’s initial successes were a mystery. What explained its cult-like appeal, and what actually happened inside the Andean communities at war? In How Difficult It Is to Be God Carlos Iván Degregori—the world’s leading expert on Shining Path and the intellectual architect for Peru’s highly regarded Truth and Reconciliation Commission—elucidates the movement’s dynamics. An anthropologist who witnessed Shining Path’s recruitment of militants in the 1970s, Degregori grounds his findings in deep research and fieldwork. He explains not only the ideology and culture of revolution among the insurgents, but also their capacity to extend their influence to university youths, Indian communities, and competing social and political movements. Making Degregori’s most important book available to English-language readers for the first time, this translation includes a new introduction by the editor, historian Steve J. Stern, who analyses the author’s achievement, why it matters, and the debates it sparked. For anyone interested in Peru and Latin America’s age of “dirty war,” or in the comparative study of revolutions, Maoism, and human rights, this book will provide arresting new insights.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments   Introduction. Beyond Orientalism in Twentieth-Century Peru: Carlos Iv\u00e1n Degregori and the Shining Path War Steve J. Stern   Part One. The War That Surprised Us: Why Shining Path Happened 1 The Years We Lived in Danger: The Armed Conflict, 1980–1999 2 How Social Sciences Failed? On the Trail of Shining Path, an Elusive Object of Study 3 The Maturation of a Cosmocrat and the Construction of a Community of Discourse 4 Revolution by Handbook: The Expansion of Marxism-Leninism in the Social Sciences and the Origins of Shining Path   Part Two. Harvesting Storms: Why Shining Path Failed 5 Youth, Peasants, Violence: Ayacucho, 1980–83 6 Harvesting Storms: Peasant Rondas and the Defeat of Shining Path in Ayacucho 7 How Difficult It Is to Be God: Ideology and Political Violence in Shining Path   Epilogue. Open Wounds and Elusive Rights: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission   Notes Works Cited Index

About the Author :
Carlos Iván Degregori (1945–2011) was a distinguished Peruvian anthropologist at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos and the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos as well as a major public intellectual. Steve J. Stern is the Alberto Flores Galindo and Hilldale Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Review :
"A towering achievement, the result of more than three decades of research and reflection on the interrelated phenomena of violence, war, culture, politics, and human rights in Peru."--Carlos Aguirre, University of Oregon "Without a doubt, Degregori is the key interpreter of the Shining Path movement. This book is his masterpiece."--Charles Walker, University of California, Davis