The Latin American Studies Book Series Daniel S Leon Violence in the Barrios of Caracas Social Capital and the Political Economy of Venezuela The Latin American Studies Book Series Series Editors Eustógio W Correia Dantas, Universidade Federal Ceara, Departamento de Geografia, Centro de Ciências, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil Jorge Rabassa, Laboratorio de Geomorfología y Cuaternario, CADIC-CONICET, Ushuaia, Tierra de Fuego, Argentina Andrew Sluyter, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA The Latin American Studies Book Series promotes quality scientific research focusing on Latin American countries The series accepts disciplinary and interdisciplinary titles related to geographical, environmental, cultural, economic, political and urban research dedicated to Latin America The series publishes comprehensive monographs, edited volumes and textbooks refereed by a region or country expert specialized in Latin American studies The series aims to raise the profile of Latin American studies, showcasing important works developed focusing on the region It is aimed at researchers, students, and everyone interested in Latin American topics Submit a proposal: Proposals for the series will be considered by the Series Advisory Board A book proposal form can be obtained from the Publisher, Juliana Pitanguy (juliana.pitanguy@springer.com) More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15104 Daniel S Leon Violence in the Barrios of Caracas Social Capital and the Political Economy of Venezuela 123 Daniel S Leon Global Studies University of Leipzig Leipzig, Saxony, Germany ISSN 2366-3421 ISSN 2366-343X (electronic) The Latin American Studies Book Series ISBN 978-3-030-22939-9 ISBN 978-3-030-22940-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22940-5 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Prologue and Acknowledgements The idea for this project stems from my time at The American University in Cairo When I was completing my master’s thesis in political science at this university, I remember asking my then supervisor, Prof Dan Tschirgi, about Cairo’s surprisingly low violence or homicide rate Why did such a poverty-stricken, ultra-dense megacity be mostly free of deadly social violence? After visiting some barrios or slums in Cairo, the Venezuelan in me was struck not by the poverty, but by the peaceful coexistence, even if socioeconomic conditions were straining Prof Tschirgi replied to this question by saying something to the effect that, “Cairo is a fascinating place!” Although I not dispute the veracity of such a statement, my experience of the barrios in Cairo allowed me to reflect on the causes of high violence rates in Caracas This city is less impoverished and smaller than Cairo, but with social violence rates that are higher by a factor of about 100 Therefore, Caracas provides an ideal place to offer a possible explanation of high urban violence rates, which is a social outcome that has shattered too many families and has been one of Venezuela’s major development obstacles I am deeply indebted to many people, who helped me in big and small ways to complete my doctoral dissertation in Global Studies at the University of Leipzig, which formed the basis of this present book First and foremost, I warmly thank my former supervisor Prof Heidrun Zinecker (University of Leipzig) Her comments and critiques were always constructive; even when some of my drafts rightly deserved unequivocal destruction I am deeply indebted to Heidrun for the considerable amount of time and effort that she took to read my many convoluted drafts, and for her patience and support throughout the years that we worked together Our discussions, both in her office and in colloquia, were always academically enriching Heidrun deserves much credit for this project’s virtues However, all errors of fact, interpretation, or research design are my own Her support came not only in the form of constructive critiques of my writing or research design but many letters of recommendation, the possibility to teach at the Institute of Political Science, and encouraging me to speak German early at her colloquium She has been a true mentor v vi Prologue and Acknowledgements The financial support for this project came from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which I am incredibly grateful for being awarded the three-and-a-half-year Graduate School Scholarship Additionally, the Graduate School of Global and Area Studies of the University of Leipzig provided me with the possibility to apply for this scholarship and for additional financial and institutional support to attend supper schools and conferences outside of Germany It also provided me with a stimulating academic environment and lasting friendships In this institution, I am very grateful to Dr Martina Keilbach for her work as the graduate school’s academic coordinator, who kindly helped me circumvent many administrative hurdles I warmly thank Prof Ulf Engel (University of Leipzig) for taking on supervision of my project at a late stage and for welcoming me in his colloquium His guidance allowed my work to become much more readable and to better frame the scope and contributions of my study I also thank Prof Alejandro Velasco (New York University), who was kind enough to read my doctoral dissertation and provide a thorough, critical, and constructive review of it He went above and beyond the call of duty of a reviewer, thus helping me to accentuate the strengths and amend the weaknesses of my book In addition, Prof Ursula Rao (University of Leipzig) and Prof Helena Flam (University of Leipzig) let me join and benefit from their colloquia and gave me constructive comments on several draft chapters of mine, and I thank them for that I appreciate the effort of my fellow doctoral candidates who kindly read my many drafts and provided helpful comments in several colloquia and winter schools of the Graduate School I want to especially thank the members of Prof Zinecker’s colloquium: Steffanie Dreiack, Sebastian Hoppe, Wolfgang Günther, Thomas Plưtze, Patricia Rendón, and Dr Hannes Warnecker-Berger They provided in-depth and constructive feedback in both formal and informal gatherings I apologize for not mentioning every colleague who contributed to my work by name Nevertheless, be assured of my sincere appreciation In the last stages of this project, Lukas Kob and Ricarda Theobald kindly read parts of it and provided valuable comments Dr Antonella Regueiro (Lynn University) also contributed significantly to help increase the readability of my arguments, to which I am very grateful My field research in Caracas from April to the end of June of 2016 was essential for this research I would not have been able to gather all necessary data without the kind help of many people, which helped a middle-class guy from the mountains of Mérida to get a good look inside the barrios of Caracas I am immensely indebted to my host family in Caracas Marisela Ramirez, Sergio Flores, Soley Flores, and their dog Mario They heartily welcomed me into their home, and their kind hospitality in hectic Caracas made my field research possible My parents Daniel and Maria Eugenia supported me immensely during my stay in Venezuela as they always have Other lifesavers in Caracas were the Alarcon Family, Natasha Diaz, Yobany Guillen, Desirée Noack, and Adriana Quintiliani I immensely appreciate their help: I also thank the 58 interviewed partners who sacrificed some of their time to sit down and talk with me Their sincere effort made this project possible Prologue and Acknowledgements vii Finally, a big thank you goes to my partner Hanna Bethcke Her patience, German-language correction, support, and love were critical for me to finish this project To Hanna, Heidrun, my family, Prof Engel, all my professors, my friends and colleagues who lend their helping hand in the making of this book, ¡Gracias! Contents 13 15 16 26 27 29 33 34 34 43 43 45 47 48 51 Introduction 1.1 The Puzzle of Urban Violence in the Barrios of Caracas 1.2 A Political Economy Approach to Analyzing Urban Violence 1.2.1 Disentangling Macro and Substructural Variables 1.2.2 Theoretical Framework: Social Capital and Urban Violence 1.3 Urban Violence and the Political Economy of Venezuela 1.3.1 Rent-Cum-Marginality: A Theoretical Model to Analyze Susceptibility to Urban Violence 1.3.2 Barrels, Arepas, and Urban Growth: Explaining Low Susceptibility to Urban Violence 1.4 Methodology 1.4.1 Case Selection and Sources of Violence Rates in the Barrios of Caracas 1.4.2 Operationalizing Social Capital 1.5 Structure of the Book 1.6 Interviews References A Theory of Social Capital as a Moderator of Urban Violence 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Defining Urban Violence: The Instrumentality of Homicides and the Social Versus Political Classification of Urban Violence 2.3 The Shortcomings of (Post-) Structural Theories Explaining Urban Violence Rates 2.3.1 Rentierism, Impunity, and the Political Order: The Ambivalent Link Between Oil-Rents and Urban Violence 2.3.2 Economic Deprivation: The Low Explanatory Power of Poverty, Inequality, and Urban Exclusion ix x Contents 2.3.3 Reconciling the “Paradox of Caracas”: Post-structural Explanations of Urban Violence 2.3.4 Filling the Gap: The Intervening Role of Social Capital 2.4 Social Capital’s Moderating Effect of Urban Violence: The Role of Social Network Density and Collective Efficacy 2.4.1 The Concept of Social Capital 2.4.2 The Role of Social Network Density and Collective Efficacy 2.4.3 Social Network Density: The Importance of Weak Ties 2.4.4 Collective Efficacy: The Role of Social Disorganization and Collective Action Within the Institutional Context 2.5 A Nonlinear Theoretical Model of Social Capital and Urban Violence and Hypotheses References High-Connectedness in Three Barrios of Caracas: Empirical Findings on Social Network Density 3.1 Introduction 3.2 A Brief History of Catia, Petare, and Baruta 3.3 Weak Tie Presence in Catia 3.4 Weak Tie Presence in Petare 3.5 Weak Tie Presence in Baruta 3.6 Explaining High Social Network Density in Catia, Petare, and Baruta 3.7 Interviews References 54 57 57 58 61 62 64 68 70 79 79 81 84 87 91 94 94 96 Making Informal Social Control Happen: Empirical Findings on Collective Efficacy 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Social Disorganization 4.2.1 Catia 4.2.2 Petare 4.2.3 Baruta 4.2.4 Findings on Social Disorganization 4.3 Collective Action Within the Institutional Context 4.3.1 Catia 4.3.2 Petare 4.3.3 Baruta 4.3.4 Findings on Collective Action Within the Institutional Context 99 99 102 103 105 107 109 111 111 115 117 120 ... Perverse Social Capital as a Cause of High Violence in the Barrios of Caracas 6.1 Explaining the Puzzle of Violence in the Barrios of Caracas 6.2 Contributions to the Literature... to variations in urban violence rates between 1.1 The Puzzle of Urban Violence in the Barrios of Caracas barrios? The behavior of violence rates in the barrios of Caracas creates a theoretical... economy inherited from the Spanish Empire, which in turn eliminated the incentives of land-owning elites of engaging in political violence The consolidation of the state removed the incentives of