Citation

Escalante EE, March RJ. J. Institut. Econom. 2020; 16(3): 355-368.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S1744137419000468

PMID

unavailable

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.

Language: en

Keywords

Brawling; conflict resolution; institutional analysis; self-governance