Accusatory Whispers: Micro-Politics of Irreconciliation in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

In post-conflict Peru, the ideology of reconciliation promotes the image of a pacified country, often erasing ongoing conflicts or reframing them positively as forms of resistance to domination. Drawing on the perspectives of Andean peasants mobilised for human rights, this article explores the ‘micro-politics of irreconciliation’ in a post-conflict context. Ethnographic research into rumours of witchcraft and poisoning reveals the underlying tensions that persist among villagers, as well as the discursive strategies by which crimes and their perpetrators are evoked. I argue that these rumours serve as implicit warnings against certain neighbours and signal the emergence of a diverted political language. Given the risks of expressing such accusations openly, ‘accusatory whispers’ convey the challenges of cohabitation and persistent resentments, particularly when the power dynamics inherited from the war persist and NGO workers unknowingly support locally contested individuals.