Peacebuilding In Colombia Research Articles

Peacebuilding in Colombia: teachers’ and students’ perspectives on the Lectures on Peace

ABSTRACT The paper explores the impact of the Education for Peace programme in Colombia, drawing on evidence from one secondary school in Bogotá, Colombia. Called ‘Lectures on Peace’, this initiative is part of the government’s strategy to overcome the internal conflict that lasted over fifty years. The study attempted to understand the role of Education for Peace in the Colombian post-conflict era as well as the policy implementation regarding the Lectures on Peace and the impact on students’ future perspectives. Data were collected from questionnaires and interviews, as well as documentary data from the Colombian government and the secondary school. The study highlights that the initiative is contributing to peacebuilding in Colombia but it also presents some challenges, especially those related to bring an understanding of the conflict to individuals who have not directly experienced the effects of war.

Social Impact of a Transformative Service-Learning Experience in a Post-conflict Setting.

In the context of the 2016 Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo), several challenges for society and academia have emerged: (1) overcoming the gap between the rural and urban settings, which has been one of the roots of the Colombian armed conflict, and (2) training psychologists and transforming traditional educational practices, which have not been designed to fulfill community needs in a post-conflict setting. One of the strategies from academia to overcome these difficulties is to create alliances with rural communities where students learn key competences to foster a horizontal approach while actively working with the community. In the region of Caquetá, Colombia, two Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation (ETCR) were created in order to provide a space for former guerrilla members’ reintegration to civil society. In the ETCR Héctor Ramírez, 27 students and two faculty participated in a service-learning project (2 weeks in December 2018 and two in June 2019) where they engaged in local daily practices and social projects based on the community’s prioritized needs. The aim of this study was to analyze the learning process of undergraduate psychology students in this community psychology service-learning project in the context of peacebuilding in Colombia. This study is grounded in a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach and data collected include reflective narratives and video diaries by students before and during the course, and two focus groups after the experience. Findings suggest that students who participated in the experience are in the process of developing cultural humility, through affective understandings and the consolidation of communities of practice that include the former guerrilla members and their knowledges. Preparing psychologists to lead peacebuilding and reconciliation processes is of importance to the field because the professional competencies gained in this context surpass the professional practice as they become part of the students’ abilities as citizens. The social impact is twofold: the students learn to create partnerships where purposes are co-constructed and trust-based, while the community takes the lead of their processes creating alliances with an academia that recognizes their knowledge and practices.

Nuevas masculinidades y narrativas de excombatientes de la Farc después del posacuerdo de La Habana

una publicación de ámbito nacional e internacional interdisciplinar de carácter científico-académico y divulgativo, que pretende fomentar el intercambio de ideas y trabajos en el campo de los medios y los nuevos media aplicadas a la educación y de formación en general

Tourism challenges facing peacebuilding in Colombia

Declaring that a tourist Colombia guarantees a post-conflict reconstruction is not a performative act. We must therefore ask ourselves whether perceiving tourism as a tool in the service of peace is more of a myth or a reality. After a brief look at the recovery of Colombian tourism since the beginning of the 2000s, this article aims to observe some of the challenges that have characterised the sector since the signing of peace agreements between the government and the FARC-Ep, such as the rebuilding the country's image, prostitution and narco-tourism, the issue of access to land and resources, the promotion of eco-tourism and community tourism, and the role of this industry in the reintegration of demobilised combatants.

Paz: un sistema humanizador complejo

El presente artículo planteó como problema de investigación la disputa, dispersión y disgregación de distintas nociones de paz a la hora de abordar la fundación y puesta en marcha del naciente proceso de construcción de paz en Colombia y, a posteriori, instó a desafiar esa disgregación e incomunicación desde la representación de una categoría alternativa capaz de integrar, poner en simbiosis e hibridación las perspectivas para ganar corpulencia.
 Bajo un enfoque metodológico cualitativo de tipo exploratoriodescriptivo, se procuró buscar, reconocer, describir y ampliar los contenidos, fundamentos y perspectivas que pueden ser el contenido y el cuerpo amplio de la construcción de paz; reto perceptivo que exigió asociar los métodos complejo/sistémico para abrir un campo de discusión con el fin de re-imaginar una categoría alternativa: un sistema de paz complejo y conscientemente humanizador.
 Como resultado se obtuvo una taxonomía tentativa de las posturas conceptuales actuales y antiguas, la descripción tanto de sus atributos, dimensiones y funciones, como de sus incomunicaciones, restricciones, limitaciones, a manera de un torbellino creativo de lo diverso que condujo a la posibilidad de toparse con una emergente concepción de paz capaz de integrar, poner en diálogo y relacionamiento algunos avances investigativos en materia del cultivo de la paz.

Youth provoking peace: an intersectional approach to territorial peacebuilding in Colombia

ABSTRACTThis article examines how youth (re)construct a sense of self and belonging in the aftermath of displacement and armed conflict in Colombia. I draw on ethnographic research with the Youth Peace Provokers of the Alta Montaña (Jóvenes Provocadores de Paz de la Alta Montaña) movement in rural Colombia to analyze the construction and performance of gendered identities among youth peacebuilders. Part one examines how youth navigate the gendered landscape of memory to (re)construct self and place in a context where militarised masculinities circulate and inscribe social power. Part two illustrates the ways in which gendered experiences of violence shape how and who participates in peacebuilding in the aftermath of war. Part three explores how youth construct their identities in response to multiple forms of violence that operate across the axes of gender, generation, race, class and territory, which extend into the emerging ‘postconflict’ landscape. I argue that participation in an intergenerational peace movement facilitates youth identity construction over and against the interlocking violence(s) of patriarchy, militarism and racism.

Dialogue and Peacebuilding in Colombia: A Dialogic and a Transformative Relationship

This article analyses different initiatives that have emerged from the top-down and everyday bottom-up peace approach after the peace agreement in Colombia and have led to establishing dialogues among different actors to contribute to the peacebuilding process. Three years ago, Colombia signed a peace agreement with the largest guerrilla group in Latin America. After this signature, the big challenge has been the implementation of the deal in the most conflict-affected territories, characterised by poverty, high rates of violence, unemployment, etc. Despite the pitfalls in building positive peace, many communities have started generating spaces by themselves and have created initiatives of peacebuilding through nonviolent actions, the acceptance of differences, active participation and empowerment and the acknowledgement that dialogue is the only way to achieve cooperation and to rebuild another story rather than conflict. This paper seeks to examine the different characteristics that have shaped dialogue-based practices when they are produced with a top-down and a bottom-up approach of peacebuilding. To do this, it is necessary to identify the parties participating in these encounters, their motivations, conditions that have allowed parties to establish a dialogue, and the results. This paper notes that in a post-conflict society, dialogues coming from the top-down will take longer in accomplishing positive peace, rather than the dialogues that have emerged from the bottom up which may be the engine to social mobilisations and the way to capitalise on social skills in achieving justice, truth, and reconciliation.

Ambiente y post-acuerdo en Colombia: la construcción de una paz integral y con la naturaleza no-humana

Lo ambiental no solo es relevante, sino determinante para la construcción de una paz estable y duradera en Colombia. Lo ambiental en el post-acuerdo ha permitido ver la importancia de la naturaleza no humana como motivo/botín, escenario y víctima del conflicto armado. La firma del Acuerdo de Paz ha llevado a un desescalamiento del conflicto armado, pero a su vez ha visibilizado escenarios de conflicto ambiental que evidencian un aumento de las tensiones por la tierra, los bosques (deforestación, aumento de cultivos ilícitos, etc.), el agua y los medios de vida de las comunidades. Estos conflictos ambientales ponen de manifiesto nuevos retos alrededor de cómo construir la paz en los territorios. En este contexto se hace necesario comprender las complejas dinámicas que han dado origen a nuevos conflictos ambientales y también entender aquellos que no son nuevos, sino que son el resultado de históricas disputas territoriales que, en algunos casos, pudieron escalar hasta la confrontación armada. Esta comprensión podría llevarnos a aportar elementos que ayuden a cambiar las causas estructurales que los han generado, y hacerlo junto con los actores del territorio, desde una visión integral e integradora, con una perspectiva inter y transdisciplinar e inter-saberes, que aporte a proteger la naturaleza humana y no humana hoy tan amenazada. En ese sentido, la defensa de la vida es la base para la construcción de una paz estable, duradera, integral y con la naturaleza. Si no generamos procesos que aporten a construir territorios donde quienes han sido excluidos y despojados históricamente puedan vivir y ejercer sus derechos de acuerdo con sus estilos de vida y en condiciones dignas, ninguna paz será entonces posible.

Colombian Historians and the Public

Review Article| November 01 2018 Colombian Historians and the Public Catalina Muñoz Catalina Muñoz Catalina Muñoz is associate professor of history at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, where she is currently working on strategies to use history for peace building in Colombia. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania (2009). Some of her publications include “Moving Pictures: Memory and Photography among the Arhuaco of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia” published in History and Anthropology (2017), “Indigenous State-Making in the Frontier: Arhuaco Politics in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, 1900–1920” published in Ethnohistory (2016), “‘A Mission of Enormous Transcendence’: The Cultural Politics of Music during Colombia’s Liberal Republic, 1930–1946” published in the Hispanic American Historical Review (2014), and “Redefiniendo la memoria nacional: Debates en torno a la conservación arquitectónica en Bogotá, 1930–1946” published in Historia Crítica (2010). Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The Public Historian (2018) 40 (4): 28–32. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2018.40.4.28 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Catalina Muñoz; Colombian Historians and the Public. The Public Historian 1 November 2018; 40 (4): 28–32. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2018.40.4.28 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe Public Historian Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2018 by The Regents of the University of California and the National Council on Public History2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

La academia frente al posconflicto y la paz. Estudio de caso

Desde 2014 la Universidad Autónoma del Caribe –UAC– apoya en la región Caribe, la política nacional de diálogo y construcción de paz en Colombia: un proceso que solo recientemente ha arrojado sus últimas consecuencias políticas e internacionales. Para ello estructuró e implementó la 'Cátedra de la Paz' en Pregrado; creó el conocido como Instituto de Altos Estudios para la Paz; estableció una serie de alianzas nacionales e internacionales, generando actividades y eventos en los que participa la comunidad universitaria, implicándola en el proceso como parte del esfuerzo coordinado para lograr su aceptación social. Este estudio que se presenta, de carácter descriptivo, desarrolla una primera fase de diagnóstico arrojando información obtenida mediante una encuesta realizada a una muestra total de 281 estudiantes de la asignatura Sociedad y Cultura para la Paz durante el año 2016. Se pretende determinar una serie de variables, a saber: a) Pre-saberes y conocimientos que tienen los estudiantes sobre la materia de Historia de Colombia y del propio Conflicto Armado; b) los mecanismos y canales que utilizan estos jóvenes para obtener la información; y c) la percepción concreta del estudiante (y el estudiantado) en cuanto a todo lo referente al Acuerdo de Paz y el Conflicto colombiano.

About the Contributors

About the Contributors

First typology of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) systems in Colombian Amazonia, based on tree species richness, canopy structure and light availability.

Aim and backgroundWe present a typology of cacao agroforest systems in Colombian Amazonia. These systems had yet to be described in the literature, especially their potential in terms of biodiversity conservation. The systems studied are located in a post-conflict area, and a deforestation front in Colombian Amazonia. Cacao cropping systems are of key importance in Colombia: cacao plays a prime role in post conflict resolution, as cacao is a legal crop to replace illegal crops; cacao agroforests are expected to be a sustainable practice, promoting forest-friendly land use.Material and methodsWe worked in 50 x 2000 m2 agroforest plots, in Colombian Amazonia. A cluster analysis was used to build a typology based on 28 variables characterised in each plot, and related to diversity, composition, spatial structure and light availability for the cacao trees. We included variables related to light availability to evaluate the amount of transmitted radiation to the cacao trees in each type, and its suitability for cacao ecophysiological development.Main resultsWe identified 4 types of cacao agroforests based on differences concerning tree species diversity and the impact of canopy spatial structure on light availability for the cacao trees in the understorey. We found 127 tree species in the dataset, with some exclusive species in each type. We also found that 3 out of the 4 types identified displayed an erosion of tree species diversity. This reduction in shade tree species may have been linked to the desire to reduce shade, but we also found that all the types described were compatible with good ecophysiological development of the cacao trees.Main conclusions and prospectsCacao agroforest systems may actually be achieving biodiversity conservation goals in Colombian Amazonia. One challenging prospect will be to monitor and encourage the conservation of tree species diversity in cacao agroforest systems during the development of these cropping systems, as a form of forest-friendly management enhancing sustainable peace building in Colombia.

La agroecología como opción política para la paz en Colombia

Este artículo aporta elementos para visibilizar la agroecología como opción política para la construcción de paz en Colombia, en el marco de los acuerdos de tierras y desarrollo rural que se adelantan en La Habana, Cuba. A partir del uso de documentos de análisis académicos y políticos y del trabajo de campo realizado en el sur del Tolima, este documento se propone: 1) realizar una aproximación teórica al concepto de agroecología; 2) contextualizar la cuestión agraria en el marco del conflicto colombiano y el modelo agroindustrial extractivista; 3) analizar las implicaciónes de los problemas agrarios en la región del sur del Tolima y las expresiones de resistencia comunitaria y 4) reflexionar sobre las fortalezas y limitaciones de la agroecología para la construccion de paz en Colombia.

Memories of Violence: Micro and Macro History and the Challenges to Peacebuilding in Colombia and Northern Ireland

Historical memory of mass violence and war crimes plays a central role in a nation or an ethnic group's cultural identity, but is not given adequate attention in the politics of conflict resolution. The article argues that it is wrong and counterproductive to treat history as exclusively belonging to the past or as too complicated, and therefore to ignore it politically. Northern Ireland invested heavily in various transitional justice and conflict resolution mechanisms, but resolutely avoided efforts to bridge sectarian histories. This experience is juxtaposed to Colombia, where during the peace negotiations a historical commission was established to explore narrowing the sectarian disagreements through legitimizing their historical memories. What can the field of conflict resolution learn from the Colombian experience? Do historical commissions provide an additional tool for transitional justice and conflict resolution?

Peacebuilding in Colombia: Context and Balance

This is the translation into English of the introductory chapter to my book Construccion de paz en Colombia (Peacebuilding in Colombia), which was published in 2012. In this chapter I present some of the main elements of peacebuilding in Colombia against the context both of changes in international peacebuilding activity and in the dynamics of the decade-old Colombian armed conflict. Currently, government and guerrilla negotiators are debating the contents of a peace agreement that would bring an end to sixty years of political violence in Colombia. Against this background, this document provides hints of both the strengths and challenges the country will face in building lasting peace.

La educación para la paz en Colombia: Estrategias de transformación y resolución negociada de los conflictos.

El trabajo que aquí se presenta tiene como objeto responder a la pregunta ¿cómo podemos encontrar, desde las instituciones educativas, respuestas creativas y no violentas a la generación o manifestación de un conflicto, y a su vez, formular estrategias de resolución pacífica de los conflictos y construcción de paz en Colombia? Para ello, se establecen dos apuestas conceptuales que transversalizan el ejercicio educativo institucional con las interacciones interpersonales desde una dimensión relacional; a saber, la apuesta por una concepción positiva del conflicto y la necesidad de definir los procesos de negociación como estrategia de resolución de los conflictos. Este trabajo encuentra que el conflicto es consustancial a las relaciones humanas y que aprender a intervenir en ellos de forma dialogada y cooperatlva será algo esencial para construir la paz a través de la educación.