Description
If in the 1990s and early 21st century, the Montes de María region was one of the main theatres of operation in the Colombian war, since 2008, it was recognized not only as the first Colombian post-conflict scenario but also as a successful one. The combination of a strong civil society with roots in peasant movements, the appropriation of a language of rights by war victims, and the implementation of bottom-up approaches led to the region becoming a post-war ‘laboratory’ and a centre of transitional justice institutions. However, despite a discourse of peace and reconciliation, the lack of resolution of the root-causes of the war and the strengthening of post-demobilization paramilitary groups have generated a context of anxiety, an increase in direct violence, and paramilitary territorial control. Based on three years of fieldwork, the paper re-centres our attention on the dynamic process through which victims build peace. The paper warns that a post-victim-centred scenario, in which a top-down approach to peacebuilding is gaining strength, once again makes victims’ historical agendas and demands invisible. This research highlights how shifting domestic and international contexts can shape the possibilities and challenges facing local actors in crafting everyday peace.
