The Occupation of Public Space in Bogotá

Abstract

The number of people internally displaced by the conflict in Colombia is intensifying drastically. As a result, the question of the political agency of the displaced in public space is acquiring increasing importance. This article investigates three constructions of public space through the struggle of internally displaced people (IDPs) against invisibility and depoliticization. Having introduced the problem of displacement in Colombia, the article looks at one occupation of public space in 2009 in particular. Using the insights of critical geography and critical legal studies, it argues that the IDPs’ occupation was not simply a short-term demand for humanitarian support, but also an attempt to challenge the very constitution of the political itself. The dissensus that the IDPs manifested is contrasted with both the Colombian Constitutional Court’s mode of balancing rights, and the hegemonic political construction of public space as something to be protected from ‘interlopers’.