Cultural Production, Music and the Politics of Legitimacy: The Case of the FARC in Colombia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the role of cultural production as a practice with important implications for rebel legitimacy. Cultural production is employed to bolster rebel group legitimacy internally, by justifying existing hierarchical relations between the leadership and fighters, and externally by positioning the rebel group as a legitimate alternative to established elites and a rightful representative of the people. Building on a relational approach to armed groups legitimacy, the article analyses cultural production by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The analysis draws on FARC music production from 1988 to 2019, internal documents, artists’ testimonies, and field observations from 2017.