From 1948 to mandatory retirement in 1976, Kindleberger taught international economics at MIT, which over that same time grew to become the leading economics department in the world. His original plan was to keep one foot in the world of policy, the better to push for Hansen’s postwar vision of economic development in the Global South. Security clearance trouble, however, put that plan on hold, and forced him instead to embrace a more purely scholarly career. Over time, the increasingly technical character of modern economics pushed him to the fringes of academia, where he reinvented himself as an economic historian.

This chapter presents several arguments concerning native and European colonial violence focusing on its ritual forms. Firstly, while Amerindian cannibalism and human sacrifice – particularly suited to the justification of conquest and colonial domination – were strongly reproached by the Europeans, some of their own behaviours resembled these practices more than they would admit. Secondly, while colonial discourse tended to construct a relatively homogeneous colonial ‘other’, native ritual violence differed considerably between and among the stratified and the egalitarian indigenous societies, that is, those without institutionalised forms of inequality beyond age and gender differences. Thirdly, Amerindians were differently affected by European conquest and colonial rule depending, among other things, on their form of political organisation. Fourthly, native and European (ritual) violent practices influenced each other to a certain extent. Finally, while Europeans condemned native ritual violence such as human sacrifice or the treatment of war captives as barbaric, their dealings with people considered inimical to the secular and godly order were by no means more humane. Given the umpteen variety of Amerindian cultures and colonial encounters, only some general trends and a few empirical examples can be discussed.