This book develops a comparative study on violence in Jamaica, El Salvador, and Belize based on a theoretical approach, extensive field research, and in-depth empirical research. It combines the Caribbean and Central America into a single comparative research that explores the historical (from the conquista onwards) as well as contemporary causes of violence in these societies. The volume focuses on forms of violence such as gang violence, police violence, every day forms of violence, vigilantism, and organized crime. The analysis provides a theoretical perspective that bridges political economy as well as cultural approaches in violence research. As such, it will be of interest to readers studying development, violence, political, Central American, and Caribbean studies.

Hannes Warnecke-Berger is Senior Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre 1199 Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition and member of the Institute of Political Science at University of Leipzig, Germany.

1. Introduction.- 2. Political Economy and/or Culture? Theorizing Forms of Violence.- 3.The Roots of Current Violence: Historical Comparative Perspectives on El Salvador, Jamaica, and Belize, 1500-1980.- 4. El Salvador: Transnationalization by Polarization and the Re-Emergence of Violence.- 5. Jamaica: Transnationalization by Force and the Transformation of Violence.- 6. Belize: Transnationalization by Coincidence and the Rise of Violence.- 7. Forms of Violence in Comparative Perspective.- 8. The Cultural Political Economy of Violence: A Conclusion.