Colonial State Terror in Puerto Rico: A Research Agenda

Abstract

This article puts forth the concept of colonial state terror as a category for the analysis of political violence in the Puerto Rican colonial conflict by US and Puerto Rican governments and pro-state organizations. To this end, the article is divided into four parts. First, it provides a short historical overview of Puerto Rico's colonial history; second, it explores US colonialism through the concept of the colonial state of exception; third, it explicates the concept of colonial state terror; and fourth, it develops a brief history of the uses of colonial state terror in the long history of US colonialism in Puerto Rico. In doing so, this article seeks to contribute to the development of a more nuanced research agenda focused on the relationship between colonialism, political violence, law and processes of depoliticization.