The arrival of Europeans in the Americas brought with it a demographic catastrophe of vast proportions for the native populations. In this book Livi Bacci argues that the catastrophe was not the inevitable outcome of contact with Europeans but was a function of both the methods of the conquest and the characteristics of the subjugated societies.

Since the end of the Cold War, conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding have risen to the top of the international agenda.

Exploring the rise of prison populations in the US, Europe and Latin America, this study begins with an account of being inside the Central Jail in Los Angeles. It goes on to point out the connections between neoliberalism as a political doctrine, and incarceration as a social policy.