Law in a lawless land : diary of a limpieza

Taking the form of a diary, this text details the occupation of a small Columbian town by rightist paramilitaries, who "clean up" the town and impose law and order by carrying out a campaign of public assasinations.

Taussig is an anthropologist an Columbia University, who has visited the town in question for more than 30 years.

His diary reflects his immersion in and familiarity with his surroundings, which his analytical powers illuminate the troubled relationship between the army, the state and paramilitary violence.