Abstract
The interactions between conflict and local development has puzzled scholars and practitioners alike. This article explores why the advent of peace in Colombia’s emerald-mining regions for the past few years, as well as a broader national peace process, has not delivered the expected development dividends among mining communities. We contrast differences in stakeholders’ perceptions between levels of governance (local, regional and national). Based on the research, we conclude that while stakeholder collaboration is successful at the regional and national levels of governance, it fails at the local level. While peace has allowed an increase in mainstream business investment in mining, this has concentrated production in a few hands leading to a deterioration in many aspects of community livelihoods and wealth distribution. There has been a shift in the concentration of wealth and production from traditional elites to large companies. Communities noted a loss of collective assets and lack of community and institutional capacity to overcome pressing issues in a post-conflict market economy that favors those who control capital and technology. Based on an evaluation of community perceptions through a focus group methodology, this study recommends ways to prepare and better coordinate stakeholders to engage with complex relationships, and protect community assets in a collaborative governance scenario. This research suggests that political reconciliation processes amid complex resource geographies require greater devolution and community engagement on post-conflict economic development during the peace process itself.
Highlights
While the FARC (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—FARC) was signing the peace agreement in Colombia in May 2017, the research team prepared its trip to Muzo, better known as “the emerald capital of the world”
This study introduces a governance approach for sustainable community development to be applied to resource regions in Colombia or somewhere else
This research focused on Colombia, the conclusions are highly likely to be applicable to other resource locations in developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere, given the structural similarities that are evident in resource-dependent rural communities [37]
Summary
While the FARC (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—FARC) was signing the peace agreement in Colombia in May 2017, the research team prepared its trip to Muzo, better known as “the emerald capital of the world”. Many assume the “governance orthodoxy”: the notion that stakeholders in a governance collaborative scenario interact through mutually agreed consensus and shared responsibilities [2] In this manuscript it is argued that peace and collaborative processes do not necessarily lead to better outcomes to all local stakeholders. This research aims to understand the relations between conflicts and community development and implications for economic sustainability, using the case of emerald mining in Colombia. Guerrilla groups, FARC, pressured local administrations through coercion and corruption to inflate social investment and infrastructure contracts coming from mining revenues. These practices were undertaken in exchange for a safe environment and for potential electoral backing for politicians who sympathized with the guerrillas [6].
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