María Cárdenas

Abstract

Colombian society has suffered for more than half a century from the armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitaries and the Colombian state. In 2016, a peace agreement was finally signed between the Colombian government and the guerrilla FARC-EP. Recognizing the affectedness above average of ethnitized populations, the final peace agreement also included a ›Capítulo Étnico‹ - an Ethnic Chapter through which a transversal ethnic perspective on the peace agreement and its implementation should be assured. This represents an innovation in Colombian hegemonic narrative and is but a result of the tireless efforts of ethnic(ized) activists to be included in peacebuilding on the national arena. For the purpose of being heard and listened to, and in order to coordinate efforts more effectively, two autonomous inter-ethnic initiatives developed on the national level (Comisión Étnica, CENPAZ) that integrated after the signing of the peace agreement the Instancia Especial de Alto Nivel con Pueblos Étnicos (IEANPE) to monitor the implementation of the Ethnic Chapter. Ethnic(ized) activists that work on the national level can be viewed as possible agents of change, whose interactions with the state, transitional justice mechanisms and international actors may question the postcolonial social order, and, ultimately, transform the racializing logic of power/violence. The dissertation project sheds light to this field of activism that is largely unnoticed, both in hegemonic national discourses on peacebuilding as well as within the academia. Parting from decolonial perspectives on conflict transformation, the current transition period in Colombia can be seen as a window of opportunity, where epistemes are being renegotiated and historical power relations are shaken to contribute to a decolonizing positive peace. The methodology comprises a relational and multidimensional design, that aims not only at contributing to the field of ethnic/critical race studies, peace and conflict studies and social psychology, but also to decolonize research practice and to contribute to the inter-ethnic initiatives through action research practice. For this purpose, extensive ethnographic research in Colombia between 2017 and 2019 was conducted, accompanying twenty-five Indigenous and Afrocolombian peace activists on the national level in the aftermath of the peace agreement of 2016. This included interviews and participatory observation of interlocutory spaces with peacebuilding institutions and transitional justice mechanisms. The project contributes empirically, theoretically and methodologically to decolonizing knowledge production and peacebuilding.