Historia de una idea invisible: La no presencia de los conceptos de construcción de paz y reconciliación en la teoría sobre la violencia en Perú

Peru is a clear case of internal violent conflict. This conflict has its peak during the eighties and the nineties, dominated by the actions of the Shining Path guerrilla movement. However, it is interesting to note the few academic works generated analyse the peace and conflict dimensions. This academic article seeks to review the different works produced in Peru regarding violence and to analyse the different contributions from the Peruvian academia regarding peace and conflict. To that task, there will be a review of the theoretical concepts of peacebuilding and reconciliation presented by the seminal authors in the peace studies field and compared with the most relevant contributions from the Peruvian academia regarding violent conflict. This article concludes that there is a very limited body of knowledge regarding violence. Moreover, this body of knowledge belongs in two different timeframes. During the hardest violent years, most of the academic works focused on the Shining Path's actions and its legitimacy. After the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a new body of knowledge appeared, closer to the concepts of reconciliation, especially dealing with memory and truth.