Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to describe and understand the concepts of justice amongst peruvian rondas campesinas (peasant surveillance patrols). The rondas campesinas emerged in 1970 decade of the last century, in the rural communities of Peru.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to describe and understand the concepts of justice amongst peruvian rondas campesinas (peasant surveillance patrols). The rondas campesinas emerged in 1970 decade of the last century, in the rural communities of Peru. Their purpouse was to halt the actions of abigeos (cattle thieves) and, during the inner armed conflict in the 1980 decade, to fight against the maoist guerrilla Sendero Luminoso. Currently, the main goal of the rondas campesinas (organization recognized by the whole local population) is to administrate justice. The ronderos (peasant watchmen) ventilan (they expose and inform to the whole community) communal problems such families struggles, conflicts about territories, water, heredity, etc.

Based on etnography, the main purpouse of my research is to understand the native notion of justicia comunal (comunal justice). The justicia comunal is practiced by the rondas campesinas in opposition to justicia ordinaria (ordinary justice). The justicia ordinaria is the justice done by the state, considered as inefficient and corrupted. In addition to this role as administradora de justicia (justice administrator), the ronda campesina act as fiscalizadora (prosecutor) of diverse institutions of the peruvian State. Suming up, the forms of justice administration, the different native kinds of justice, the way of exposing communal problems and the mode in which the prosecution of the State institutions is applied, constitute the main axes to understand the native concepts of justice.

The fieldwork made for this research has taken place in Macusani, district of Carabaya, settled in the highlands of Puno in the Peruvian Andes.