A Port at the Fringes: The Making of Callao as a Site of Danger in the Peruvian Social Imagination

Authors

• Dr. Andrea Román-Alfaro

Files

Description

This talk examines how Callao, the district with the second highest homicide rate in Peru, has come to be understood—and governed—as a site of danger. Tracing Callao’s history since its founding in 1537, the presentation shows how racialized labor regimes, criminalized economies, environmental degradation, and uneven state presence have produced enduring narratives of disorder. These narratives have obscured structural abandonment while casting residents as inherently troublesome and dangerous. Rather than an exceptional space, Callao emerges as a product of these long-term processes, revealing how violence functions not as a breakdown of order, but as a central mechanism through which urban order is produced and maintained.

Publication Date

4-23-2026

City

Albuquerque

Comments

This event is free and open to the public.

Recommended Citation

Román-Alfaro, Dr. Andrea. "A Port at the Fringes: The Making of Callao as a Site of Danger in the Peruvian Social Imagination." (2026). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/laii_events/592