This book demonstrates the centrality of cultural issues to the study of conflict and violence. It explores a range of contemporary conflicts in which culture has become an explicit issue: ethnic nationalism, opposition movements in authoritarian states, and racism in racial democracies.

Introduction - revealing conflicts across cultures and disciplines, Kay B. Warren; interpreting "La violencia" in Guatemala - the many shapes of Mayan silence and resistance in the 1970s and 1980s, K.B. Warren; culturalism versus cultural politics - the Movimento negro in the Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil 1970-1988, Michael Hanchard; the politics of identity in a Palestinian village in Israel, Davida Wood; religious networks and urban unrest - lessons from the Iranian and Egyptian experiences, Guilain Denoeux; contested images and implications of South African nationhood, Anthony W. Marx; democratic transitions and redistributive reforms - the Philippine case, Jeffrey M. Reidinger; striking with hunger - the cultural meanings of political violence in Northern Ireland, Begona Aretxaga.