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Fighting on Christmas: brawling as self-governance in rural Peru

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: This paper analyzes the Peruvian highland tradition of Takanakuy, a public brawling ritual occurring each Christmas to resolve conflicts between local community members. We argue that Takanakuy provides an effective way for locals to resolve disputes that Peru's formal judicial system is unable or unwilling to settle. Using insights from ethnographic fieldwork, journalistic articles, reports, and academic sources, we find that brawling during Takanakuy encourages social cooperation by preventing potential violence and offering community members a credible mechanism of law enforcement in an orderly fashion with social acceptance.

Source: Journal of Institutional Economics

DOI: 10.1017/s1744137419000468

Authors: Edwar E. Escalante, Raymond J. March

Institutions: Texas Tech University, Angelo State University, North Dakota State University

Language: English

Topic: Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W3123777345

FWCI:

Cites: 91

Cited by: 5

Related to: 10