In this vivid ethnography set in contemporary Peru, Susan Stokes provides a compelling analysis of the making and unmaking of class consciousness among the urban poor. Her research strategy is multifaceted; through interviews, participant observation, and survey research she digs deeply into the popular culture of the social activists and shantytown residents she studies. The result is a penetrating look at how social movements evolve, how poor people construct independent political cultures, and how the ideological domination of oppressed classes can shatter. This work is a new and vital chapter in the growing literature on the formation of social movements. It chronicles the transformation of Peru's poor from a culture of deference and clientelism in the late 1960s to a population mobilized for radical political action today.
About the AuthorSusan Stokes is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.
Book InformationISBN 9780520200234
Author Susan C. StokesFormat Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint University of California PressPublisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 363g