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The Gavilleros of the East: Social Banditry as Political Practice in the Dominican Sugar Region, 1900–1924
Author(s) -
FRANKS JULIE
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6443.1995.tb00085.x
Subject(s) - peasant , politics , scrutiny , power (physics) , economic history , political science , quarter (canadian coin) , political economy , economy , development economics , sociology , history , law , economics , archaeology , physics , quantum mechanics
This essay explores 'social banditry’ as a form of political practice in relation to distinct regimes of power; regional, national, and imperialist. The eastern region of the Dominican Republic experienced a rapid rise of land values and conversion of peasant smallholdings into sugar cane lields at the start of the twentieth century. Roving bands of ‘outlaws’ called ‘gavilleros’ appeared almost immediately, and came under increasing, and different, scrutiny during the years 1916–1924, when United States Marines occupied the Republic. This essay considers the political and social dimensions of gavillero conduct as it was transformed‐and transformed itself‐during the first quarter of the twentieth century.