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With the purpose of ending wars, international organizations and governments promote reintegration projects that seek to transform combatants affiliated with illegal armed groups into citizens through education. The assumption behind these efforts is that through education, ex-combatants will become economically independent, overcome marginalization, experience personal transformations, and integrate into communities. This paper questions this optimistic narrative of education by highlighting the differentiated meanings of education for ex-combatants reintegrating in urban Colombia. Listening to the voices of ex-combatants who have engaged in technical and vocational education programs, this paper compares policy narratives with ex-combatants' narratives regarding the role of education in the reintegration process. The analysis reveals how for ex-combatants, education is a complex social practice that redistributes resources and contributes to positive psychosocial and empowerment transformations. At the same time, it is a process of insertion into an individualistic system and adaptation to unequal participation within the country's socio-economic hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal transport sector has various ambivalent characteristics and often a negative connotation since it commonly operates unauthorized and illicitly and is not part of the official transport sector. However, the informal sector provides a mix of legitimate transport offerings as well as important complementary services. The paper focuses on these 'new mobilities' and aims to understand informal transportation systems not only as a service coverage in specific areas lacking formal transit, but also as an activity that arises as a popular form of struggle and a covert and unorganized form of resistance against the political power embedded in dominant transportation systems. Through an empirical study conducted in the region of Urabá in Colombia the paper explores how the dominant agricultural industries in the region are causing huge challenges related to the overlap of transportation scales, congestion and risks of accidents in urban areas, affecting urban development, and how injustices of the existing public transport services and insufficient road infrastructures trigger the production of informal transportation. The paper mobilizes the theory of 'everyday forms of resistance', which draws attention to certain common behaviour and activities of subaltern groups as tactics to survive and undermine repressive domination. As such, this paper questions through its case study to what extent the informal transportation actions in Urabá are in a way challenging oppression and can be called an everyday form of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how some small-scale palm oil growers in northeast Colombia have managed to exercise partial autonomy from global markets while still participating in them. By comparing the varied experiences of these farmers, I find that, state-led land access and multiscale organizational support for small-scale farming have enabled these farmers to selectively engage with global markets and carve-out space for autonomous decision-making on their farms. By examining the risks and possibilities associated with farmers' engagement in global value chains, this study illuminates the potential for agricultural transitions and small-scale farming within the context of global agricultural markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stand-alone price analysis of illicit opium and coca does not explain why smallholders turn to illicit crops for coping and survival. Under conditions of precarity, illicit crop markets can stimulate productivity. They generate returns that can tame crises and relieve pressures. To smallholders facing marginalisation, violence, and climate change – growing opium and coca, despite their illegality, can reduce or spread risks and provide more predictability. Thus, rather than fix on the 'invisible hand' of price theory, the focus should be on the 'visible hand' of political entrepreneurship, interdependent relationships, and the metrics of precarity. To do this, this paper retrospectively compares illicit crop prices before and after certain historical moments in Bolivia, Myanmar, Colombia, and Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Research has shown that the counterinsurgent proposition of 'winning Hearts and Minds' is more complex than building a road. This paper examines how project workers in three infrastructure projects in Colombia sought community support not for military intelligence or to improve government-community relations, but to intervene with armed groups on the project's behalf. The findings highlight the role of community institutions in negotiating between two actors – rather than being 'won over' by either. This paper also indicates the limitations of community agency in the face of changing local orders, questioning the local empowerment of goods delivery in conflict areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an account of the relationship between language endangerment and conflict violence by combining insights from the fields of political science and linguistics. We develop a theoretical account of the manner in which the violence and disruption of community life jeopardizes the viability of communities that speak endangered languages. Our goals for this paper are to synthesize the contributions linguists and political scientists have made to the study of language endangerment and political violence; develop a theoretical account of language endangerment; and utilize statistical analysis to correlate factors related to political conflict and violence with language endangered communities. We test our theoretical model on language endangerment across the municipalities of Colombia and find support for our hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic and social crisis faced by Venezuela since 2013 has led to a massive migration of its population to neighbouring countries, with Colombia being the nation that has been the most impacted. This paper estimates the impact of Venezuelan immigration on housing rents in Colombia's main cities. Using a repeated cross-section data of Colombian households between 2013 and 2019, along with an instrumental variables approach, this study finds that a 1% increase in the proportion of Venezuelan immigrants to residents in the main cities in Colombia raises housing rents, on average, by about 1.25%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land rental markets often accompany irrigation infrastructure development as water availability revalorizes land. Agrarian change scholars critique land rental markets for contributing to capital accumulation. To date, however, this approach has not incorporated the roles of environmental changes induced by irrigation, corresponding social-ecological interactions, and political ecologies of vulnerability. Based on 12 months of research in Colombia's most expensive land rental market spanning two irrigation megaprojects, this paper demonstrates how land rental markets compound environmental stresses to exclude producers from land- and water-based agricultural livelihoods. The research additionally advances debates of land control, capital's mobility, and Andean water infrastructure development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between transparency and corruption by asking how public servants' internalization of transparency affects their actions against corruption. This study operationalizes transparency through the Colombian Freedom of Information – law (FOI-law) to measure whether public servants interpret transparency as instrumental or as intrinsically valuable. It uses the 2019 Colombian Employee Viewpoint Survey; logistic regressions show that individuals' understanding of FOI-law as instrumental increases the likelihood of reporting corrupt practices in public organizations. This paper raises questions regarding how public employees are being trained in transparency and adjusting their behaviours accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a case study from southwest Colombia, this paper provides hopeful example of an intercultural social movement popular education initiative which brings together social movements across territorial, political and cultural borders in order to generate unity and collaboration between these counter-hegemonic forces in the southwest of Colombia. It examines the learning and knowledge which have emerged from this initiative, led by a small, radical human rights organisation called Nomadesc, which over the course of two decades has brought together activists from diverse movements and territories across southwest Colombia in order to empower them to deal with the violent context, reimagine alternatives, and strengthen and interweave their struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One managerial narrative describes COVID-19 as a trigger for innovation in health system planning and delivery. Analysing 33 interviews with national stakeholders in Colombia´s health system, this paper argues that an 'innovation' narrative provides a partial account of managerial responses to COVID-19. COVID-19 triggered positive and negative effects on adaptive resilience: as mirror for recognizing problems predating the pandemic; as accelerator of service changes; as source of solidarity among professional groups; as workforce trauma; and as disruptor of adjacent improvement activity. The paper concludes that multi-level effects of adaptive resilience, and costs of its practice, need to be recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the world, economic interests and state-making interventions have converged in dispossessing rural and urban dwellers. Drawing on literature on rural transformation, precarity, and life after dispossession, this paper explores how lifeworlds are constructed after dispossession. Based on ethnographic research in an Afro-descendant village in agro-industrial Colombia, I analyse five income-generating activities that together point to rural precarity, characterised by uncertain labour relations, fragile conditions of life, ecological dependence, and reconfigured rural relations. While villagers construct their lifeworlds around community, autonomy, and recognition, the constant search for income and reconfigured rural relations uphold and deepen inequalities in the agro-industrial margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study used the capability approach (CA) to explore the English learning experiences of 10 economically vulnerable higher education (HE) students in Colombia in order to better conceptualise English from a capability perspective. In doing so, this paper builds on the empirical and theoretical work of capability scholars which has looked at the role of English in educational settings. It highlights the importance of viewing linguistic capabilities as inchoative since viewing them as fully formed can obscure injustices. These injustices can include poor quality English language education (ELE), an unfavourable financial situation, and a lack of opportunities for exposure to and practice of English. This last-mentioned injustice foregrounds another important dimension of linguistic capabilities: their inter-subjective, relational nature. To aid in this conceptualisation, the paper also draws on Phillipson's [1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press] theory of linguistic imperialism to better illustrate how English is implicated in asymmetrical power relations which give rise to oppression and domination. However, this paper also shows how some injustices can be navigated by educationally resilient individuals. The findings of this thesis are therefore of interest not only to language policy experts and other language education stakeholders in developing contexts, but also to capability scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important pillar of building sustainable peace after protracted violent conflict, security sector reform (SSR) has the objective to prepare state security actors, who often have been active conflict participants, for work within the frameworks of democracy, adherence to human and civil rights, and civilian rule. A major component of SSR is the re-training and re-education of local police to improve their relationship with the local communities. This relationship has often been severely strained by human rights abuses committed by police against community members during the conflict, and it continues to be put to the test in fragile post-accord environments by persisting high levels of violence. However, research on how to improve that relationship, particularly from a bottom-up perspective, remains scarce. This study analyses the dynamics of the relationship between the police and communities in the transition period from war to peace in Colombia, a country tormented by continued violence even after the signing of the 2016 peace agreement that was to set an end to the country's decades of internal conflict. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted during the fall of 2019, it applies the theoretical lens of the relational peace framework that approaches peace in terms of relationships between different sets of interdependent actors. The findings indicate that the relationship between the communities and the police has not reached satisfactory levels of relational peace, suggesting a set-back in security-related peacebuilding. The paper concludes with recommendations, including from interviewees, on how to improve that relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In protracted social conflict, trust between the contending parties is absent and distrust can prevent or undermine attempts to find a sustainable resolution. It is important to recognise distrust as an active process, distinct from low trust or the absence of trust. Previous work has identified the difference between thick (internal) and thin (social) trust bonds within and between groups. Recognising the varied nature of trust and distrust can provide opportunities to create mechanisms to bridge divides. It may be possible to create institutions able to guarantee agreements, as leading actors persuade followers by calling on thick trust. This paper examines the negotiation of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the FARC, following more than 50 years of conflict. The aims of the paper are to (1) identify the form and extent of trust and distrust between parties, and (2) determine how distrust was managed in negotiating the peace agreement. The findings point to the ability of elite actors to develop thin trust through repeated formal interactions and in turn use thick trust to bind followers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore what campesino [peasant] livelihoods in the rural Andean mountains of Colombia offer to understandings of more-than-human co-existence and care. For, while new conservation paradigms promise to transform economic and social horizons, being "paramuno" [resident of the "paramo," or high moorlands] in the small community of Monquentiva is already characterized by becoming-with-other-beings-and-practices; a disposition toward incorporation of elements that are at-hand, and an ethics of care toward other beings in the landscape. We draw on ethnographic data to present this case study, emphasizing the forms of social organization and persistence that have enabled the emergence of economically and ecologically sustainable livelihoods. We explore these processes in terms of what we call world-making practices, showing how relationships with Indigeneity and collectivity are being renegotiated, and arguing for modes of conservation that engage with existing forms of peasant innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the impact of Venezuelan migration on the female labor market in Colombia. Following the economic crisis in Venezuela, more than 1.5 million Venezuelans arrived in Colombia in the period 2016–2019. Using an instrumental variables approach, we find that the sudden influx of millions of migrants reduced the labor force participation of less-skilled native women due to a disproportionate increase of competition in economic activities in which they were more concentrated. On the other hand, migration positively affected the labor force participation for high-skilled women with children. When testing the underlying mechanisms of this latter result, we find a reduction in the time spent on childcare and an increase in the probability of hiring domestic service, explained by a decrease in the cost of this service due to the Venezuelan exodus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international community is a key actor in fostering, establishing and maintaining peace in conflict-affected regions through multiple forms of cooperation. Official development assistance (ODA), for example, is one of them. It encompasses peacebuilding initiatives and includes diverse actors and partnerships. This paper provides a better understanding of such stakeholders' relationships by analysing 85 successful peacebuilding ODA projects that donors have implemented in Colombia. Together with international donors, we examined the projects' databases to classify the modality of cooperation, based on whether it focussed on development assistance, humanitarian aid or transition and on the way in which the key actors' involvement varied, depending on the projects and modalities. We bridge multidisciplinary findings from peacebuilding and international cooperation literature in light of the Colombian case. Using empirical and theoretical evidence, we found that non-governmental organisations and civil society are key actors in most of the projects; and that, with Colombia holding a middle-income country (MIC) status, donors do not avoid cooperating with the government, as they do with low-income countries (LIC), which lack governmental capacities. The private sector was not recognised as a key actor by the donors, who question its role in international peacebuilding-oriented assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since peace negotiations between the Colombian government and Farc guerrillas began in 2012, it is generally accepted in the country that journalism has a responsibility to nurture peace and that the media can positively influence reconciliation. But a recent analysis of domestic news concluded the voices of victims were distinctly absent and that the majority of coverage involved official sources. This paper argues that a journalism intended to promote reconciliation must speak to those who have direct experience of conflict and suffering. We argue that a deeper understanding of trauma may strengthen resilience and contribute to peacebuilding. Drawing on the authors' research working with young people embroiled in Colombia's conflict, the paper explores an alternative, innovative approach to the retelling of the stories of others and to post-conflictreporting. At a societal level, the project aimed to contribute to the process of reconciliation, using an autobiographical approach to capture and re-construct participants' experiences of the conflict and to highlight challenges of re-integration. It presented their hopes for reconciliation through creation of an animated documentary. At a journalistic level, the project explored the efficacy of combining traditional methods of storytelling with animation to offer anonymity to vulnerable contributors of testimony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the conditions under which quality conventions in coffee can be revised. It shows how value is captured by a collective composed by Colombian producers overseeing coffee quality attributes, engaging in relational approaches and building knowledge with international buyers. Interviews were conducted with selected organic producers in Santa Marta, Colombia and buyers (e.g. in Germany, the Netherlands). Due to the sound relations between the staff of the producer organization and a German buyer, the manager of the collective proposed to also export roasted coffee in addition to green coffee. Although roasting at origin is not common in coffee exports, in the case analyzed existing hesitations were abandoned. Eye-level relationships, trust based on a relational approach and knowledge were key to achieving a collective quality construction and subsequent value capture by producers. Over time, these producers have improved their material quality techniques and become more familiar with the places where their coffee circulates and is valued, allowing them to influence the commercial spheres of the coffee business. The discussion is not about changing quality conventions, but on how quality conventions are institutionalized and the narratives behind them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners recognise the importance of context when implementing healthcare interventions, but the influence of wider environment is rarely mapped. This paper identifies the country and policy-related factors potentially explaining the country differences in outcomes of an intervention focused on improving detection and management of heavy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Qualitative data obtained through interviews, logbooks and document analysis are used to explain quantitative data on number of alcohol screenings and screening providers in each of the countries. Existing alcohol screening standards in Mexico, and policy prioritisation of primary care and consideration of alcohol as a public health issue in Colombia and Mexico positively contributed to the outcome, while the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact. In Peru, the context was unsupportive due to a combination of: political instability amongst regional health authorities; lack of focus on strengthening primary care due to the expansion of community mental health centres; alcohol considered as an addiction rather than a public health issue; and the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare. We found that wider environment-related factors interacted with the intervention implemented and can help explain country differences in outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to agricultural credit contributes to rural development by allowing farmers to carry out profit-maximising investments that increase productivity and income, underlining the importance of exploring ways to increase access to this resource. This paper analyses the role of Rural Producer Organisations (RPOs) in easing access to formal agricultural credit. We build an original dataset comprising 15,000 municipality-year observations of RPO creation and credit allocation in Colombia to estimate a fixed effects model. We show that when the number of RPOs increases in a municipality, aggregate access to credit increases. This positive relation also holds at the individual level, with RPO membership increasing both the likelihood of a farmer requesting credit and of receiving the requested credit. We discuss demand and supply-side mechanisms that plausibly explain these results, and we further show that the relation between RPOs and access to credit is heterogeneous according to the source of credit (public vs. private bank) and the type of farmer to whom it is allocated (low-wealth, mid-wealth or high-wealth farmers). Our results point to the potential of RPOs to improve access not only to input and output markets but also to financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the determinants of terrorism at the sub-national level in Colombia during 2001–2014. In order to establish robust relationships, a Bayesian model averaging framework has been implemented using departmental data. We find that the violence suffered by this country is linked to economic factors, especially labor market outcomes. The results obtained are not significantly altered by the use of relative measures of terror, the specification of alternative parameters and model priors or the presence of spatial dependence. The main conclusion drawn from our analysis is that an appropriate strategy to fight against terrorism in similar contexts is to increase its opportunity cost. This might be achieved through the promotion of inclusive socioeconomic development, primarily in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Colombian Ministry of Education introduced the Cátedra de Paz (CdP), a national policy that seeks to contribute to human rights, citizenship, violence prevention, and peaceful conflict resolution. In the context of a decentralized education system, schools have significant autonomy to adapt the policy to local contexts. Relatively little research to date has documented the enactment, evaluation, or impact of the CdP. This study aims to understand how educators have interpreted this national mandate, and the extent to which the policy has prompted and expanded teaching and learning opportunities about conflict, peace, and justice. We explore the perspectives of 46 teachers working in public schools across 19 of Bogotá's 20 localities, several years into the creation of the CdP and in the midst of a contentious national peace process. The paper shows a range of enactment formats and uneven impact on teachers' existing commitments to peace education. We conclude that the CdP has had a contradictory effect on school-based practices, legitimizing the importance of peace education as a national imperative, while marginalizing efforts within schools as individualized and bound to the social sciences subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoted by the peace process between the Santos administration (2010–2018) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which resulted in the signing of a peace accord in November 2016, peace education at Colombia's higher education establishments and schools is gaining momentum. Educators have seized upon the opportunity afforded by the peace process and the associated legislation, particularly Law 1448 (2011) on victims and Law 1732 (2014) on the Peace Chair (Cátedra de la Paz), to energise peace education. Yet this is proving to be difficult. Among the challenges are the persistence of high levels of political, criminal and other types of violence following the termination of the armed conflict affecting learners' attitudes, behaviours and values; little relevance for peace education of established education in ethics and democratic citizenship competences; limited concrete knowledge on tertiary peace education as a pedagogical field; a vague legal framework; and little institutional guidance. Based on the author's first-hand experience as a conflict analyst and university lecturer in Colombia and a discussion of the 'conventional' and 'critical' orientations of peace education, this paper addresses these challenges and presents ideas on how tertiary peace education in Colombia could be enhanced through a focus on historical memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people in Colombia present high rates of mental health problems, to which the country’s history of armed internal conflict contributes in complex ways. Mental health services in Colombia are fragmented, inadequate, and difficult to access for many. Young people’s help)seeking is often hindered by mental health stigma and/or poor experiences with services. This paper presents a thematic analysis of qualitative data from a mixed-methods study aimed at developing and testing a mental health intervention for Colombian youths. We draw upon theoretical lenses from scholarly work on stigma and Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’ to inform our analysis of interviews and group discussions with staff and young people involved in the state-funded human capital building programme ‘Jovenes en Acción’ (JeA). By illustrating how study participants talked about stigma, vulnerability, mental health services organisation, and the challenges of discussing mental health topics in a learning environment, we illuminate aspects of mental health support and anti-stigma interventions that might need enhancing. In particular, we suggest that more emphasis on ‘community competencies’ as complementary to and interrelated with individual competencies would strengthen young people’s individual and collective resources for mental wellbeing while being in line with the sociocritical principles of existing human capital-enhancing programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to suggest a mathematical model of unpaid housework and empirically test its main predictions using data from Mexico (2014) and Colombia (2017) time-use surveys. The model, based upon the Marxist-feminist approach, suggests that the magnitude of unpaid housework is determined by the super-exploitation of labor, i.e. the gap between wages and the value of labor-power. The outcome is an equation that relates positively the magnitude of unpaid housework with the super-exploitation of labor. The parametric and nonparametric regression estimates applied in both countries show preliminary empirical support for the theoretical model. The theoretical and empirical findings have several implications for Marxist-feminist literature as well as for empirical research on unpaid housework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2017, the community of Buenaventura, Colombia's main port and the city with the largest Afrodescendant population, went on a general strike. By scrutinising this event, this article reveals some shades of the entanglements of race, class, political subjectivity, security, capitalist development and histories of colonialism that structure the racial dynamics of space. Relying upon discourse analysis of policy papers, legal regulations and secondary sources, coupled with informal interviews and direct observation, it is argued that violence and coercion have been central techniques for harnessing the local poor population in accordance with the needs of the port as the emblem of capitalist development. The article pays particular attention to how law is implicated in the violence deployed in the city-port either as a legitimising factor or as discursive formation which portrays the local population as dangerous and thereby as a security threat to the port. This narrative about the insecurity of the poor, created and recreated by the law, reinforces the image of the Black population as undeserving poor, while at the same time legitimising the coercive interventions that have characterised the control of criminality and social mobilisation in the city-port. However, the strike allows us to see that precarity and violence have resulted in a politically active population and sophisticated levels of mobilisation which have managed to stop capitalist development, at least for a while. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to look at the Colombian case of secularisation, touching on the current state of religion and Religious Education from three perspectives: the law, the Catholic Church, and the wider society, to determine the challenges acquired by the gap developed between religion, religiosity and secular legislation. With this in mind, the article recognises that Religious Education an Colombian law have fallen short from addressing the issues presented by the Colombian situation. Finally, it introduces some ideas on what the focus of RE and law should be for the subject to be able to respond to some challenges particular to this South American country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of three independent qualitative case studies that examined interactions with feedback as L2 listeners worked in self-regulated environments. Data on high-intermediate learners of English were collected from case studies conducted in Australia, Colombia and Chile. Results show that L2 listeners across case studies used feedback to assess performance, to ease task completion, and to regulate listening comprehension processes. We discuss reasons along with integrated data and propose a three-level preliminary framework for conceptualizing feedback in computer-based L2 listening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although globally used as construction material in earthquake zones, adobes' low tensile and flexural strength produce brittle behavior and low ductility of structures under seismic loads. Adobe buildings are widespread in Colombian rural and urban areas: as monumental buildings or informal housing, theyrepresents an immeasurable architectural and cultural heritage. Albeit high Colombian seismic risk, national building regulations do not include earthen architecture references. The paper analyzes the most frequent seismic subsidence mechanisms of earthen architecture, adobe building retrofitting and its seismic behavior improvement via specific interventions. The main goal is to associate possible causes—due to common local adobe building practices—with failure mechanisms, to deduce which retrofitting strategies could reduce seismic effects into adobe structures. The research innovation lies in the effectiveness and feasibility evaluation of the retrofitting strategies through "sustainability" indicators, based on literature quantitative and qualitative data, and strictly related to rural Colombian conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Genocide” is a key frame through which death is given social significance. Scholars have argued that genocide sits at the top of a hierarchy of grief – signalling it as the most profound paradigm through which those killed can be mourned. How does the mourning of life unfold when legal and social conceptualizations of genocide diverge? And what does this divergence tell us about the power of “genocide” as a label for violence? Focusing on the extermination campaign against Colombia’s Patriotic Union (UP) political party, this paper examines how recent transitional justice programmes have interpreted the question of genocide and violence against political groups. I specifically trace the development of two separate, discursive registers of genocide: one legal and one of “common parlance.” In so doing, I contribute to scholarly concern with the question of genocide and political groups in two ways. First, I interpret the exclusion of political groups from legal definitions of genocide as a question of grieveable life. Secondly, scholarly debate has focused on whether or not political groups ought to be protected under genocide law. I diverge from these questions to trace how emergent genocide discourses include political groups as a socially but not legally included within the term’s purview. I thus argue for scholarly attention to how political groups are interpellated in a manner that neither fully recognizes nor denies their status as victims of genocide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the ways in which women victim/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and other human rights abuses in Colombia are co-facilitating repair and regeneration in their wider social ecologies – including their families, communities, built and natural environments – through their physical and emotional work. I begin by exploring the concept of co-facilitation which is used in socio-ecological resilience literature to designate the process through which individuals and communities cooperate with their social ecologies to make positive development possible after stressful/traumatic experiences despite systemic inequality and oppression. Using empirical data and following a growing corpus of literature which recognises that during war people are not only harmed but also build life alongside violence, I argue that victim/survivors and women-led organizations cooperate to co-facilitate positive change in women's lives and their communities. The paper concludes by reflecting on the role of these organizations as central resources in women's lives and the need to strengthen them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes some indicators of the Colombian educational system considering the effect of the pandemic and assesses the causal effect of an alternation plan between face-to-face and remote education, conducted in 2020, on the results of an achievement test. Indicators reveal that the pandemic caused a greater demand for education services in public schools, increased dropout, and repetition rates, and widened the gaps in academic performance. The causal empirical exercise indicates that the students who participated in the experiment obtained, on average, better results in the achievement test compared to students who remained in the non-face-to-face scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of terrorist attacks on the returns and volatility of Colombian stock returns using an event study methodology in a GARCH model framework. It also investigates the impact of the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC, an army of leftist narco-guerrillas, on the same characteristics of the financial market. Results show that the COLCAP index, a market-capitalization weighted index that includes the 25 most liquid stocks listed in the Colombia's stock exchange, has a significant negative abnormal return of 0.1% 1 day after a bombing attack occurs, that continues to accumulate down to −0.18% 3 days after. Furthermore, events associated with the peace accord, exhibit a significant positive abnormal return of 0.58% on the event date that continues to accumulate up to 1.02% the day after. In addition, cumulative abnormal volatility (CAV) is statistically insignificant both after terrorist attacks and peace-associated events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market potential has been shown to have an important impact on the explanation of observed income disparities both across countries and across regions within countries. However, the importance of neighbourhood for 'income levels-market potential' regressions is largely neglected in the empirical studies on the subject. This paper tries to fill up this gap by estimating fixed effects spatial panel data models using Colombian regional data over the period 1990–2015. Our results reveal that around half of the impact of market potential on regional income disparities can be attributed to neighbouring regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Colombia, the rapid rise of illicit opioid use has become a major public health concern. Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are well established and effective. However, access to MOUD remains suboptimal in this country. This paper aims to understand barriers to accessing MOUD in Colombia to inform the integration of this treatment modality in health systems. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey among persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) not enrolled in MMT in four Colombian cities with high known OUD prevalence. Survey domains consisted of the Barriers to Treatment Inventory, attitudes pertaining to MOUD treatments, and perceptions regarding interventions to ease access to Methadone. Results: A total of 84 subjects completed the survey. The most commonly endorsed barriers were related to admission difficulties, including concerns with "too many steps to get into treatment" (84.3%), experiencing withdrawal symptoms (78.1%), being placed on waiting lists (48.2%), and cost (44.6%). Nearly all participants were receptive to Methadone dispensation in primary care (96.4%) or mobile vans (91.6%). Conclusions: Findings from this study highlight persistent barriers to linking with MOUD among adults with OUD in Colombia requiring increased outpatient treatment programs, flexible methadone dosing, and administrative and financial support for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2002 and the election of Álvaro Uribe as president, national pride and sentiment have grown substantially in Colombia. While it is possible to understand this as a positive phenomenon, given Colombia's historical difficulties in constructing itself as a nation, this paper develops the notion of nationism (distinct from nationalism) and on that basis argues that the figure of the nation is actually central to constructing an enduring right-wing hegemony in Colombia. I focus on the Victims' Law of 2011, an important achievement for the country, crucially understood as part of the process designed to help Colombia move beyond the violence that has dominated its history since the middle of the twentieth century. The Victims' Law prioritizes memory and remembering for overcoming the divisiveness of Colombia's recent past and enabling it to enter a peaceful future. I develop a reading, however, that favours comprehending this project more fruitfully as an attempt to create memories that, in turn, will lead to the recognition of the existence of a reconciled nation, the subject of such memories: for collective memories require collective subjects (nations) to be their bearers. But the nation so-created, I then argue, is not what it purports to be: a collective subject supporting the collective aspirations of all Colombians. Rather, banefully, I contend that the figure of the nation being developed in Colombia is, more pragmatically and indeed more fundamentally, a symbolic means by which dominant social actors repudiate and repress internal dissent and dissenters, induce historical amnesia about the actual causes of Colombia's conflict and its history of violence, and thus, rather than serve as a prerequisite to usher in a future of peaceful and widespread social development, it aids and abets the prorogation of right-wing hegemony: apparently ending it theory while doing nothing to discontinue it, in fact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we explore Colombian secondary students’ views on Venezuelan migration. Despite contradictory feelings on the topic, our findings show the prevalence of (perceived) economic and security threats associated with migrants. Tensions emerged over perceptions that Venezuelan migration has shifted attention from unresolved domestic issues, contributing to nationalist and xenophobic sentiments. Young people also exhibited concerns about xenophobic discourse and showed efforts to resist the harms of mainstream narratives. We suggest that critical openings for curricular inquiry and dialogue in classrooms are needed to engage explicitly with young people’s concerns and to mitigate potential discrimination Venezuelans experience in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of natural disasters on tax revenue across Colombian municipalities. We follow a two-step approach to evaluate how a municipality's tax revenue depends on natural disasters taking place both locally and in its trade partners. In the first step, we estimate a gravity model of bilateral trade and construct a matrix of estimated bilateral trade shares, allowing us to measure the strength of the economic relationships between municipalities. In the second step, our results reveal that natural disasters in the destination municipalities increase the tax revenue in the origin cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades several Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have been implemented to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of poverty. More recently, they have also been used as a policy response to provide support to households hit by the COVID crisis. CCTs are being deployed as a development tool to reduce local communities' vulnerability, increasing their resilience and capacity to adapt. In this context, this paper investigates if CCTs can reduce vulnerability to climate change by increasing the adaptative capacity of local communities. Indeed, while some literature has found that CCTs can reduce specific dimensions of vulnerability to socio-economic shocks, we argue that more research is necessary to understand their impact on vulnerability to climate change. Empirically, we use a panel of household survey data collected in Colombia in 2002 and 2006. We employ a difference-in-differences approach to analyse the impact of the CCT programme Familia en Acción (FA) CCTs on rural households. We consider seven components of vulnerability linked to climate change aggregated in an index: wealth, health, access to information, access to basic facilities, financial vulnerability, resilience to natural disasters, and nutrition. Our results differ from previous research and indicate that CCTs provided by the FA program do not decrease vulnerability to climate change. This finding suggests that CCTs are not a universal solution to reducing vulnerability to climate change and may be ineffective in specific contexts. The literature often assumes that CCTs can have a mitigating effect on vulnerability to climate change. Our research shows that in the context of Colombia, this assumption is incorrect. The idea that providing monthly payments to households can reduce vulnerability to climate change should be considered with caution, given limited empirical evidence. Policy makers and scholars should consider the multidimensional nature of vulnerability and design targeted interventions and avoid considering CCTs as a panacea to all aspects of vulnerability to climate change. Our models show that the FA programme failed to have a significant impact in reducing vulnerability to climate change using several different specifications. We show that CCTs do not have an impact on numerous essential components such as wealth, health, access to infrastructure, information and knowledge, financial coping mechanisms, food consumption, and exposure to natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special issue "The Micro-dynamics of Conflict and Peace: Evidence from Colombia." It contributes to the burgeoning literature on the study of micro-dynamics in peace and conflict studies, with a special empirical focus on the Colombian case. The contributors to the special issue use a variety of methods and interdisciplinary approaches to study questions regarding land tenure and forced displacement during conflict, the assassination of social leaders in post-conflict scenarios, as well as dataset comparability and accuracy in micro-level analyses. They tackle the challenges of micro-level studies of conflict, namely the disconnect between the macro- and the micro-levels, data quality, and generalization. Indeed, although all articles use Colombia in their empirical analyses, the theoretical contributions are broad and general: land tenure structures cause and are caused by conflict dynamics; national policies will be met with violence to preserve local orders; and relatively rich data environments are not as reliable as they might seem. Este artículo presenta el número especial "Las microdinámicas de conflicto y paz: evidencia de Colombia". Contribuye a la creciente literatura sobre las microdinámicas en los estudios de paz y conflicto, con un enfoque empírico especial en el caso colombiano. Los autores en este número especial usan una variedad de métodos y aproximaciones interdisciplinares para estudiar preguntas acerca de la tenencia de la tierra y el desplazamiento forzado durante el conflicto, el asesinato de líderes sociales en escenarios de posconflicto, así como la comparabilidad y certeza de bases de datos en los análisis a un nivel micro. Los autores enfrentan los retos del estudio a nivel micro del conflicto, a saber: la desconexión entre los niveles macro y micro, la calidad de los datos, y la generalización. En efecto, aunque todos los artículos usan a Colombia en sus análisis empíricos, las contribuciones teóricas son amplias y generales: las estructuras de la tenencia de la tierra causan y son causadas por las dinámicas del conflicto; las políticas nacionales serán enfrentadas con violencia para preservar órdenes locales; y ambientes relativamente ricos en datos no necesariamente son tan fiables como aparentan. Cet article présente le numéro spécial "Les microdynamiques des conflits et de la paix : évidence de la Colombie". Il contribue à la littérature croissante sur les microdynamiques dans les études sur la paix et les conflits, avec un focus empirique particulier sur le cas colombien. Les auteurs de ce numéro spécial utilisent une variété de méthodes et d'approches interdisciplinaires pour étudier des questions sur le régime foncier et les déplacements forcés pendant les conflits, le meurtre de leaders sociaux dans les situations post-conflit, ainsi que la comparabilité et la certitude des bases de données dans l'analyse à un niveau micro. Les auteurs sont confrontés aux défis de l'étude du conflit au niveau micro, à savoir : la déconnexion entre les niveaux macro et micro, la qualité des données et la généralisation. En effet, bien que tous les articles utilisent la Colombie dans leurs analyses empiriques, les contributions théoriques sont amples et générales : les structures fonciéres causent et sont causées par la dynamique des conflits; les politiques nationales se heurteront à la violence pour préserver l'ordre local; et les environnements relativement riches en données ne sont pas nécessairement aussi fiables qu'ils le paraissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather conditions in Colombia vary greatly throughout the territory. This fact, in the context of Colombian wholesale electricity, plays a key role in the bid pricing strategies and intensity of the strategic behaviour among plants. We estimate a dynamic spatial Durbin model to factor in the effects weather conditions have on bid pricing. The results show how energy inputs become critical for setting bid prices, a fact that is reinforced by the predominance of hydraulic generation technologies. One potential policy recommendation is the need to implement balancing markets to signal efficiently the pricing strategies in these markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We know that civil wars have negative and long-term consequences for public trust in state institutions. However, few studies have examined the post-peace challenges of rebuilding trust in state institutions. In this study, we utilise the case of Colombia to explore the impact of civil wars on the institutional trust of the police. We find that perspectives on abuse, punishment, and corruption are significant predictors of trust in the Colombian police. Further, we find that when we test all three phenomena together, perceptions of police abuse and experience with bribery are the key drivers of trust of police in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The illicit coca economy has become a bulwark for smallholder farming in Colombia. This article helps explain why. Analysis of the social relations surrounding coca production in one of the country's most important coca-producing municipalities shows that capitalist market imperatives are weak within this economy. Pressures to increase productivity are muted by fluid access to land, non-interest-bearing debts, and the lack of price competition between producers. Coca-growers are 'improving' production, but they mostly respond to opportunities rather than imperatives. In the context of multiple agrarian crises, the coca economy allows even less well-off producers to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an effort to unveil how colonialism gets inscribed in research education initiatives during peace-building. To this end, we look behind the scenes of an education development project that sought to support a rural school in consolidating high-quality education during Colombia's recent peace process. We examine how, in our roles as principal investigator and research assistant, our enthusiasm inadvertently contributed to perpetuating the colonial rule of the state in an area traditionally controlled by revolutionary groups. To do so, we follow the project from its design and negotiation to the delivery of results. By depicting how enthusiasm may shape a researcher's reasoning, we aim to complicate our understanding of the research process and the enthusiasm that underpins peace efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops the concept of 'humanitarian activist citizenship' to analyse the political work of grassroots organisations representing groups and individuals displaced during Colombia's civil conflict. In Colombia, the armed conflict has led to the forced migration of around 8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). In response, self-identified IDPs and other victims of violence have formed organisations and staged protests to claim collective rights. This article emerges out of a narrative analysis of interviews conducted with members of IDP grassroots organisations in Bogotá between 2017 and 2018. Building on insights from the 'acts of citizenship' literature, it argues that the political work of these organisations must be understood as a form of 'humanitarian activist citizenship', through which groups and individuals victimised by violence in Colombia mobilise humanitarian policies and discourses to redefine the relations that exist between them and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What explains the divergent strategies of middle commanders after negotiated peace? After Colombia's peace process with the insurgent group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, former FARC midlevel commanders deployed a variety of strategies, from leading reintegration projects to build peace, to rearming splinter groups to spoil peace. Most other studies approach leading and spoiling separately, thus failing to account for both outcomes. Responding to this limitation, this article proposes an integrated theory explaining middle commander strategies after armed conflict. It argues that former commanders seek to maximise personal security and influence, and they choose strategies that respond to variations in local security and community embeddedness. Former commanders in secure areas with community embeddedness will build peace, while former commanders in dangerous areas with community embeddedness will spoil peace. This argument is evaluated with a qualitative analysis using primary data collected during field work in Colombia, including 59 interviews with former FARC members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy is a process of heavy restructuring of the productive network, during which sunset industries are in decline or even disappear, while sunrise industries emerge and flourish. This process affects all aspects of the economy: the demand and the supply side, the public and the private sector, the financial structure and the informal economy. In this article, we propose a holistic framework that assesses the macroeconomic vulnerability that emerges from a low-carbon transition, especially in developing economies. We consider vulnerability as a multidimensional phenomenon and, thus, pay attention to all fiscal, social, monetary, financial and external dimensions of the economy. We, then apply this framework to the Colombian economy. We use indicative variables of vulnerability, in all its aspects, and a stock-flow consistent growth model in order to monitor their evolution across time. We consider two scenarios related to a reduction of real fossil fuel exports of Colombia and a global rise in interest rates. Results indicate that the more delayed is the global transition, the higher the vulnerability of the Colombian economy. Similarly, global monetary tightening becomes an obstacle in the transition process, as it induces vulnerability stemming from the financial and external side of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]