Jasmin Hristov

I am a global sociologist with interests in political violence and international development. My research explores the intersection of economic globalization and violence – more specifically how violence is instrumentalized to advance the interests of economically powerful actors. To this end, I have developed the theory of pro-capitalist violence to offer conceptual tools for analyzing violence as an enabler of predatory capitalist accumulation.

In my past research, I studied paramilitary violence and its connections to the state and/or economic elites, in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, and Honduras. Some of my key publications on this subject include: Paramilitary Groups and the State under Globalization: Political Violence, Elites, and Security (Routledge); Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond (Pluto Press); and Blood and Capital: the Paramilitarization of Colombia (Ohio University Press).

My current project focuses on the role of state and paramilitary violence in land dispossession and repression in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Here I look at how the land used by small scale farmers, indigenous communities, and peasant cooperatives is transferred into the hands of large corporations in the mining, agribusiness, hydroelectric, and other sectors. The methodology I use is grounded in principles of participatory, action- oriented research, where solidarity, dialogue, and reciprocity, are the core values guiding a research agenda aimed at supporting social justice struggles.

Hristov, J. and Arias, J.C. (2023). Beyond the Politics of Love: The Challenges of Paramilitary Violence and the Land Question for Colombia's President Gustavo Petro. Studies in Political Economy, 104(1), 55-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/07078552.2023.2186022

Hristov, J., Sprague, J., and Taus, A. (Eds). (2022). Paramilitary Groups and the State under Globalization: Political Violence, Elites, and Security. London: Routledge.

Hristov, J. (2021). Pro-Capitalist Violence and the Great Wave of Dispossession: Armed Actors and Agrarian Conflicts in Colombia, Mexico, and Honduras. Sociology of Development 7(2), 129-158. https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2021.7.2.129

Hristov, J. (2020). Pro-Capitalist Violence and Globalization: Lessons from Latin America. In Hosseini, S.A.H., Goodman, J., Motta, S.C., & Gills, B.K. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Transformative Global Studies. London: Routledge

Hristov, J. (2020). Globalization, Militarization, and Repression in Latin America. In Caliskan, G. (Ed.), Globalizing Gender, Gendering Globalization: Post-Colonial Perspectives. Toronto: Oxford University Press Canada.

Hristov, J. (2020). The Capital-State Nexus and its War on Women. In Caliskan, G. (Ed.), Globalizing Gender, Gendering Globalization: Post-Colonial Perspectives. Toronto: Oxford University Press Canada.

Hristov, J. (2019). Armed Actors, the Commodification of Women and the Destruction of Childhood: Understanding the Connections between Predatory Sexuality and the Violence of Capital in Colombia. In Cohn, S. and Blumberg, R. (Eds.), Gender and Development: Economic Basis of Women's Power. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hristov, J. (2017). Guerrillas, Marxists, Terrorists, or Trouble-Makers? Doing Sociology in High-Risk Violent Conflict Areas. Canadian Review of Sociology, 54(3), 375-377.

Hristov, J. (2014). Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond. London: Pluto Press.

Hristov, J. (2010). Self-Defense Forces, Warlords or Criminal Gangs? Towards a New Conceptualization of Paramilitarism in Colombia. Labour, Capital and Society, 43(2), 13-56.

Hristov, J. (2009). Blood and Capital: The Paramilitarization of Colombia. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.

• Database: Human Rights and Political Violence Monitor of Honduras: violenciahonduras.org
• Insight Grant, SSHRC 2021-2026: Land Violence, Security, and Development in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico
• Early Investigator Award, Canadian Sociological Association 2019
• Insight Development Grant, SSHRC 2018-2020: Violence and Land Dispossession in Central America and Mexico
• Partnership Engage Grant, SSHRC 2018-2019: Human Rights Monitor of Honduras
• Hampton Research Endowment Fund, UBC 2017-2019: Violence and Land Dispossession in Central America and Mexico
• Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, UBC Okanagan 2018: International Sex Trafficking and Illegal Armed Groups in Colombia
• Finalist for the WOLA-Duke Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America 2010

Jessica Hart - MA.SOC:L