Studies on the Armed Conflict and the Peace Building in Colombia from a Territorial Perspective: Approaches and Challenges

Abstract

This paper presents a critical analysis of the recent literature on the armed conflict and the peace building in the Colombian context; from a territorial perspective. Scientific journal databases were consulted, using a combination of the words territory, armed conflict, and peace; the results since 2008 were considered for the analysis. It was found that this type of studies has addressed the symbolic dimension of territory to analyze aspects such as forced displacement, territorial resistance in contexts of armed conflict, which were created to be peace initiatives by the communities affected by violence, and the study of the territorial transformations produced by the armed conflict. The study identified pieces of research focused on the analysis of territorial management in relation to the armed conflict and as an important tool for peace building. This paper concludes by highlighting the challenges revealed by the studies in this field in the current context.