Avatars of colonial and liberal violences: the revelatory character of COVID-19 governance in Colombia

Abstract

This article analyses the institutionalised injustices faced by Indigenous populations and other ‘others’ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that the government’s responses are rooted in a liberal philosophy that has historically sustained biases and inequalities through an exclusionary definition of citizenship. To analyse these issues, the article first concentrates on the broader epistemic assumptions of liberal citizenship and the ways in which they are connected to historical legacies in Colombia. Despite liberal claims of equality for all, the biases that emerge from these notions of citizenship lead towards political disempowerment, silencing, erasure and abandonment. Consequently, Indigenous peoples in Colombia have experienced institutionalised biases such as the prioritisation of particular forms of participation, the exclusion of populations from rights, and the elevation of plans of development that aim to erase other ways of being. These biases were further reinforced by the governmental responses to the pandemic. Hence, the article analyses the inequalities that have been exacerbated as a result of COVID-19 policies, showing their scope and depth, and establishing a discussion about injustices that might affect populations beyond the current context of Colombia.