Description:This volume addresses the proliferation of increasingly complex forms of violence, a situation now perceived to be both among the most pressing issues faced by Latin America in our times and a reality with multiple ramifications, marking the socio-political landscape of the region in decisive ways. With contributions by scholars from various fields (the social sciences, journalism, and the humanities), this book examines not only the manifestations and the effects of violence but also the social acts that surround it and make it meaningful. Violence appears here as a natural yet dramatic manifestation of how individuals organize themselves in contemporary Latin America.