ABSTRACT
Drawing on historical and ethnographic research conducted between 2003 and 2008 in Usibamba in the central highlands of Peru, this chapter examines the nature of state power and citizenship in the periphery. The history of Indian communities in the Andean highlands of Peru shows how territorial control formed the basis on which the state claimed authority over people and defined people's political identities as citizens. The Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Velasco decided to respond to the increasingly violent demands for serious land reform and the abolishment of haciendas. In the 1980s, the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla movement became active in the Andean region. The shining path was initiated by intellectuals in the city of Ayacucho, from where it spread to other Andean regions and to the capital of Lima. Being a remote area populated by impoverished peasants, the Andean highlands were ideally suitable for the Maoist insurgents.
