The Inca Empire - The Formation and Disintegration of a Pre-Capitalist State (Hardcover)

The last of the Andean civilizations, Inca society was the product of complex historical and social processes of class and state formation. State institutions and practices of repression were essential for maintaining and extending exploitation, as the traditional social relations of encapsulated communities were distorted and reorganized to accommodate the interest of a ruling class whose membership was continually reconstituted through the addition of other Andean peoples and, later, Europeans. This study examines the contradictions, tensions and conflicts these processes engendered and explores the involvement of Europeans in Andean life after the 1530s as it resulted in new forms of exploitation and repression.