Peacebuilding In Colombia Research Articles

Women, Peace and Territory: Peacebuilding in Colombia through Ethnic and Gender Approaches

Women, Peace and Territory: Peacebuilding in Colombia through Ethnic and Gender Approaches

The Challenge of Territorial Systemic Analysis for Peacebuilding in Colombia

This article reflects on the need to structure a systemic analysis of Colombian rural territory as a crucial challenge in the context of implementing public land policies and peacebuilding in Colombia. It examines the conditions for configuring a scenario that articulates the action of institutions and democratic participation in land management, from the perspectives of scientific and technological innovation, based on the following guiding questions: What are the challenges facing the government and civil society in addressing the issue of access to and use of rural land in the process of just and responsible land governance? What is the functionality of three conjuncture public policies for achieving territorial peace: Multipurpose Cadastre, Social Ordering of Rural Property, and the Land Administration System? The analysis uses a qualitative and descriptive approach. It interprets, on the one hand, the experience of professionals specialized in land administration, who provide an account of the use of geospatial technologies in this field, through in-depth interviews. On the other hand, it reviews the evolution of the legal-normative framework and the documentary analysis. The results describe the analytical value that a geospatial ecosystem represents for the contemporary country. This revolutionary tool is crucial for comprehensive knowledge of the territory, which requires effective, participatory, and equitable intervention to strengthen the institutions that manage land and peace towards sustainable development

Women peacebuilders in Colombia and new digital solutions

AbstractWomen all over the world are using information and communications technology (ICT) to build peace in their communities. Women are natural pioneers of these technologies because the networks they use daily are the foundations that build long‐term peace in their communities. This article discusses the relationship between gender and digital connectivity, investigates whether women have different needs when building peace versus when implementing peace, and uses ICT in peacebuilding in Colombia as a case study. The Colombian government has made significant strides in closing the digital gap, especially in rural areas, and women have taken advantage of ICT to facilitate the Peace Agreement of 2016. The implementation of the peace agreement and digital solutions, however, is posing new challenges to women, including vulnerabilities in physical safety and increasing social and political polarization. Colombia needs to strengthen its efforts to close the digital divide by providing communities with the type of infrastructure and training that will meet their needs. Further, gender‐based technical policy needs to be readdressed to incorporate strategies to combat the current violence women face when using ICT. Colombia needs to prioritize providing a digital state presence to help protect women peacebuilders and hold perpetrators accountable.

Book review: J. C. Lopez and B. Fisher-Yoshida, Peacebuilding in Colombia: From the Lens of Community and Policy

J. C. Lopez and B. Fisher-Yoshida, Peacebuilding in Colombia: From the Lens of Community and Policy. Routledge, 2023, 184 pp., GBP 27.99 (Paperback). ISBN: 9781032313078.

Foreign language student-teachers: Dispositions from the classrooms for peacebuilding in Colombia

Este artículo describe eventos narrativos relacionados con la manera como afrontan el conflicto y la reconciliación en las aulas de clase, estudiantes-profesores de lenguas extranjeras en su práctica pedagógica en Bogotá-Colombia. Se aproxima, desde una epistemología narrativa de investigación, a saberes personales, alrededor de cómo se llega a ser docente de lenguas en contextos de enseñanza donde la reconciliación social está en juego. Para ello, se obtuvieron los eventos narrativos a través de 12 entrevistas semiestructuradas con estudiantes de Licenciaturas en Lenguas Extranjeras de dos universidades de Bogotá, entre junio y diciembre de 2018. Se utiliza como apoyo para el análisis el software Nvivo12. Por medio de este, se realizaron codificaciones abiertas y axiales que muestran una textura sólida y concluyente del saber emergente que construyen los estudiantes-profesores en sus prácticas. Se destaca dentro de los resultados la toma de consciencia de los estudiantes-profesores sobre las acciones que favorecen la convivencia pacífica en el aula. También son relevantes los posicionamientos que hacen sobre su rol como profesores en la construcción de la paz. En conclusión, se reconoce que los estudiantes-profesores se aproximan a pedagogías contra-hegemónicas y re-humanizantes. Ellos expresan la necesidad de tener en cuenta las realidades de sus estudiantes al enseñar inglés. Esta disposición los acerca a una construcción de paz.

Can redistributive policies promote reconciliation beyond its scope? The impact of inequality reduction programs on peacebuilding in Colombia

AbstractTransitional justice jurisdictions aim to promote reconciliation. Although previous research focuses on truth commissions, the reconciliatory role of redistributive justice is less clear. This article investigated the association of conditional cash transfers and victims’ reparation with demand for redistribution, belief in forgiveness, support for the peace process and community participation in Colombia. We analysed three nationally representative samples of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) surveys in 2011 (Study 1; n = 1503), 2016 (Study 2; n = 1563) and 2018 (Study 3; n = 1663). Consistently across studies, conditional cash transfers (and not victim reparation programs) predicted higher community participation, with little effect on other reconciliation indicators. Further, redistribution is indirectly associated with other reconciliation indicators through community participation, supporting the observation that transitional justice relates to reconciliation when it satisfies a need for agency and empowerment. We discuss how the null effects of the victim reparation program suggesting context‐specific constraints.

Disruptive hope: the communal repertoires of violence resistance in Cúcuta

ABSTRACT This paper looks at the micro-politics of crime disorder and everyday peacebuilding in Colombia and Venezuela’s contested urban systems, particularly Cúcuta. Despite being plagued with crime, Cúcuta is also a space of hope where resilience and coexistence shape the survival strategies of thousands of marginalised people who transit or live in this contested city. Focusing on how residents, including immigrants, navigate informality and crime at the street and neighbourhood level, this study contributes to the emerging literature on how people resist criminal governance in violently contested cities by exploring the overlap between violent crime and everyday peace practices. Notably, it examines how mobility restrictions, and contested informalities come into play in places where social order is bargained between non-state armed groups and the state. Building on Urban Criminology and Peace Studies, I show how communities navigate and resist violence and crime in a violently contested city.

Latin American Social Medicine in Colombia: Violence, neoliberalism, and Buen Vivir

AbstractThis article explores the efforts of Latin American Social Medicine (LASM) scholars/activists to incorporate decolonial approaches to support peace building in Colombia. We draw from our participation in Red SaludPaz (RSP); a network of universities and civil society organizations dedicated to supporting the peace accord, and guided by social medicine and the indigenous epistemology of Buen Vivir. We describe the work of RSP both as researchers and as active participants of this network guided by participatory action research in the tradition of Fals Borda. We ask what challenges are faced by RSP when reflecting on Buen Vivir, and how to understand our own endeavor to examine community‐based projects through Buen Vivir. We have found that RSP's commitment to promote peace has invited LASM scholars/activists to decolonize notions of health and wellbeing and to think about Buen Vivir as a pathway to emancipation from the rigid confines of western epistemology.

Envisioning Paths Towards Peacebuilding in Foreign Language Teacher Education

In a country struggling to emerge from the shadows of a relentless armed conflict, where media manipulation puts a stable reconciliation process at risk, foreign language educators are called on to act. This article presents the results of a study conducted with three foreign language students tudying in one of the sites of a public university in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia, located in a region affected by cultural, structural, direct, and ecological violence. The study resorted to critical peace education and critical media literacy theories as well as to local contributions from a pedagogy of memory to foster critical consciousness about the armed conflict in Colombia. Data collection methods included a survey, recordings of class discussions, samples of students' work, and individual and group interviews. Data showed that the participants reflected critically on the role of different war agents, increased their capacity to question media messages, recognized the relevance of including the victims’ voices, and created counter-texts to contest dominant narratives about the conflict. Findings confirm the urgent need to prepare future foreign language educators to respond to their learners’ harsh social realities and exert their agency to generate transformations. They also highlight the need to do more interdisciplinary work in ELT and to value the contributions of local knowledge that helps us both understand the dynamics of violence in our contexts and envision possibilities for peacebuilding in Colombia.

Conflito armado, paz e terapia ocupacional na Colômbia: caminhos e desafios

Abstract Colombia experiences a long-running armed conflict, with more than nine million registered victims and profound damage to people, communities, and society. The article covers three topics. First, a brief contextualization of the Colombian armed conflict and some of its impacts. Secondly, based on documentary sources, it attempts to trace how Colombian occupational therapy has approached the armed conflict. It identifies three stages: prudent indifference, slow awakening, and recognition of ethical-political responsibility. Finally, it presents some challenges for the professional contribution to peacebuilding in Colombia, such as expanding and strengthening the profession to reach the territories most affected by the conflict, improving occupational therapists’ training and practice to respond to the complexity of the country's situation, and reflecting on the objectives and ethical implications of professional actions for the victims, ex-combatants or communities affected by the conflict.

The armed conflict and peacebuilding in Colombia

The study analyzes the processes that have contributed to the configuration of Colombia’s internal armed conflict and to the different peace proposals promoted by national governments for the last 40 years. It explores the causes and consequences of the armed conflict and the implications of building a culture of peace for the Colombian people. This is achieved through a review of the theoretical, contextual, and historical primary and secondary sources relevant to these two thematic axes. Finally, proposals to be undertaken under bilateral agreements for the end of the armed conflict and for a fair and lasting peace are outlined.

El género en la intersección entre el conflicto armado y laconstrucción de paz en Colombia : un balance

Objective/Context: Gender and the role of women have become central concerns when analyzing armed conflict and peace transitions. Colombia has not been the exception. How has gender research and activism evolved at the intersection of armed conflict and peacebuilding in Colombia? Methodology: Based on a detailed review of academic and official literature, complemented by 27 interviews with individuals from academia, the public sector, activism, and civil society, we identify some of the most significant moments, dilemmas, and milestones in this evolution. Conclusions: First, we show how scholarly production and activism related to gender have been deeply marked by the armed conflict, which has made it possible to draw attention to the specific experiences of women in war but hindered the emergence of topics outside the needs and agendas of the context of war. We observed that conversation around gender, conflict, and peace reflects and deepens old discussions on the center and the periphery: conversations on gender seem different and distant at the level of capital cities and other regions. Finally, it was possible to observe the impact of international agendas on intellectual production and activism. The panoramic vision offered by this article seeks to contribute to the state-of-the-art on this topic in Colombia and the visibility of a field under construction in which gender, armed conflict, and peacebuilding intersect. Originality: Unlike other research on gender studies in Colombia, we not only conducted a documentary and bibliographic analysis but also focused our findings related to the experiences and reflections of people, mainly women, who have worked and led this field, as well as on their biographies.

Engaged pedagogic research: Transforming societies through co-learning and social action

This paper proposes a novel political pedagogic approach to conducting engaged research. Drawing critically on elements of Participatory Action Research and popular education, this approach - Engaged Pedagogic Research (EPR) - generates processes of collective co-learning and empowerment for local communities and activist researchers. Central to conducting EPR are five processes: generating situated learning practices, recognizing alternative knowledges, engaging in inter-cultural and inter-ethnic dialogue, deconstructing power relations, and promoting empowerment and social action. The experiences of engaging in EPR through developing and running a Diploma in Territorial Planning to support peacebuilding in Colombia are discussed. Different social groups living in conflict areas gained new knowledge and built social relationships that strengthen collaborative action, while activist academics achieved a deeper understanding of how members of these cultural groups manage their territories, relate to each other, and develop visions for collaborative futures in the context of peacebuilding. By developing participatory, decolonized and transformative bridges to connect and engage universities with communities, EPR facilitates learning that is collectively created and has the potential to contribute to more just and egalitarian societies.

A new war on nature and people: taking stock of the Colombian peace agreement

Non-technical summary Almost 6 years have passed since the Colombian peace agreement was signed. However, the promise of a ‘Stable and lasting peace’ is slipping away as the transition towards peace is increasingly tainted and overshadowed with violence. The future of Colombia is at a crossroad and without international support and action taken to monitor global supply chains, these particular drivers of conflict, violence and environmental degradation will persist. We summarize the current situation and shed light on the complexities of building peace in Colombia, with a particular focus on the environmental changes that took place since the peace agreement was signed. Technical summary The Colombian peace agreement officially ended one of the world's longest internal armed conflicts. But the transformation of land use that takes place in the wake of the peace agreement has made the historic inequalities of access to land more visible and revealed inherent and violent struggles over resources that persist across the country. In this briefing we analyse the current status of peacebuilding in Colombia and highlight the major barriers and challenges in the current peacebuilding efforts. We show how the last few years brought severe and negative repercussions for people, communities and the natural environment in Colombia as cattle ranching, ‘productive agriculture’ and extractive industries are increasingly encroaching into indigenous territories, protected areas and forest ecosystems, replacing diverse natural forests that support biodiversity and contribute to human well-being locally and globally. The resurging presence of numerous armed groups seeking to control the profitable drug trade and mineral deposits are a major problem and obstacle for building lasting and sustainable peace among people and with the natural environment in Colombia. We conclude this briefing with points that we see as crucial to support the implementation of the peace agreement. Social media summary Colombia's peacebuilding effort must foster environmental stewardship and respect its biological and cultural diversity.

A case for agonistic peacebuilding in Colombia

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of agonistic peacebuilding in the light of the ongoing peace process in Colombia. We subscribe to an approach to agonistic peacebuilding that acknowledges conflict as an inevitable but also possibly productive dynamic. We think that the work by the Colombian research programme La paz es una obra de arte (Peace Is a Work of Art) is an inspiring case to analyse from this perspective. This programme, based at the University of Antioquia in Medellín, helps us understand in depth how agonistic peacebuilding strategies work through the arts, using clown interventions to foster life story narratives in order to transform former enemies into adversaries and engage all actors in the creation of peace.

“Fests of Vests”: The Politics of Participation in Neoliberal Peacebuilding in Colombia

AbstractThe Colombian Peace Agreement signed in 2016 was saluted internationally by scholars, policy makers and practitioners for encompassing the concept of territorial peace as a means of ensuring local participation in the strengthening of state institutions. Based on engaged research conducted in the Department of Cauca and Bogotá between 2017 and 2020, we critically analyse territorial peace, exploring its ideation, implementation, and subsequent decline in favour of security and stabilisation. We argue that the government’s peacebuilding rationale and mechanisms sought to reinforce the neoliberal state through a constrained participation model, which marginalised the progressive struggles of local communities living in former conflict affected areas. Without a radical breakdown of pre‐existing power structures of exploitation and domination, community participation in peacebuilding runs the risk of legitimising state‐led initiatives that ensure the political rule of capital, strengthen the bureaucracies of the centralised state, and create new violent disputes without resolving existing ones.

El Acuerdo de Paz para Colombia. Un singular mecanismo de consolidación de la paz

El Acuerdo de Paz en Colombia tiene como principal objetivo acabar con el conflicto en el país y se presenta como un singular mecanismo de consolidación de la paz. Sobre este Acuerdo descansan todas las medidas que se han adoptado para asegurar la paz en Colombia. El papel de las organizaciones internacionales es bastante marginal y su labor queda vinculada a lo que se dispone en el Acuerdo de Paz. En todo caso, Naciones Unidas ha querido contribuir a la paz en el país, aunque casi todo el protagonismo en la consolidación de la paz corresponde al Estado colombiano. La tarea de la organización internacional no sólo es meramente complementaria, sino que además queda estrechamente ligada a las decisiones del Estado colombiano. El Acuerdo de Paz se concibe como un instrumento que regula los componentes que resultan necesarios para hacer efectiva la consolidación de la paz en Colombia.

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

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.

Características de la intervención psicosocial en el Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio como escenario de construcción de paz en Colombia

Objetivo: el artículo busca analizar las características de intervención psicosocial del Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio (PDPMM) fundado en 1995 y resaltarlo como una experiencia gestada desde los grupos de base, develando las formas de participación ciudadana y de organización social. Metodología: la investigación se estructuró bajo un enfoque cualitativo, empleando el método de análisis de contenido, a través del instrumento de la matriz documental. Este proceso metodológico arrojó un análisis en tres momentos: el primero, la caracterización de la fundación del Programa; el segundo, la perspectiva teórica de lo psicosocial y, el tercero, el análisis de las características de intervención psicosocial del Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio (PDPMM). Resultados: se encontró que uno de los elementos principales del PDPMM fue definirse desde sus inicios como un proceso social en permanente construcción, cambiante, dinámico y sujeto a una recomposición de sí mismo. Por otro lado, se evidenció que es de vital importancia conocer y validar las experiencias de construcción de paz en Colombia, en este caso particular el PDPMM, que propone desde una metodología participativa, una alternativa para asumir y vivir un territorio, pensando lo regional y resignificando los procesos generados con los actores de la sociedad civil. Conclusiones: se concluye que con el Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio los procesos comunitarios fortalecieron la participación, el sujeto político, el tejido social y la construcción de lo público en aras de un bienestar colectivo.

Peacebuilding in times of COVID-19: risk-adapted strategies of cooperation and development projects

National and international cooperation and development projects (CDP) are fundamental for peacebuilding. However, unforeseen global crises, like COVID-19, can endanger such projects, requiring rapid adaption. In Colombia, the coronavirus outbreak threatens to slow the implementation of peace-related projects, while simultaneously violence over control and ownership of land increases. Although the mid- to long-term consequences for peacebuilding are unknown, exploring risk-adapted strategies of national and international CDP can help identify crucial aspects for future processes and implementations. This study explores the key challenges and coping strategies of implementing agencies and stakeholders to COVID-19, thus helping to derive and improve risk-adapted strategies. After reviewing academic and grey literature, and implementing a semi-structured survey, peacebuilding risked-adapted strategies to COVID-19 are explored with respect to conflict-affected and vulnerable areas of Colombia. Findings show that increasing complexity rooted in top down governmental measures, the rise of new local power relations (e.g. armed groups, illicit activities), and social alienation are negatively affecting peacebuilding in Colombia. Future CDP risk adapted strategies should build on local interests and needs through public-private and environmental cooperation.