Replication Data for: Public Emotions and Variations of Violence: Evidence from Colombia

In 2010 Colombia experienced an unexpected surge in acid attacks against women, and from 2010-2014, it had more acid attacks per capita than any other country in the world. No other form of violent crime in the country demonstrated such a spike. What explains this unusual variation in violence? Drawing on 19 months of field research and an interpretive analysis of national culture, I argue that this unique pattern of violence was made sensible by the 2005-2011 nation-building campaign Colombia is Passion that redefined the enduring violence plaguing the country as men’s misunderstood passion for beautiful women. By valorizing violence toward women and making women’s membership in the nation contingent upon their beauty, the campaign created an affective economy under which acid attacks became both intelligible and effective in producing social death and national ostracization. This paper presents an original database of acid attacks and violence against women in Colombia. It denaturalizes violence against women and suggests that political scientists might do more to explain important variations of violence outside of armed conflict. Finally, this study demonstrates the explanatory power of interpretive studies of political culture, national identity, and public emotion in structuring the meaning and patterns of violence.