Project Details
Projekt
Competing (In)Securities. Frictions of Violence Transformation and Peace Building in Colombia,
Applicant
Professor Dr. Ernst Halbmayer
Subject Area
Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
Term
from 2019 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 420109071
The peace agreement between the Colombian state and the FARC guerilla signals the beginning of a long, complex, and multifaceted peace process in the highly diverse environment of the Colombian state. The project investigates local dynamics, frictions (Tsing 2005), and the agency of local civil actors in the context of the peace process in three socio-culturally diverse micro-regions (Cauca, Cesar, and Urabá) that were severely affected by the war.Our approach is based on theoretical insights from the anthropology of conflict and security. In order to come to terms with the dynamics of transformation in the war-peace-continuum (Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois 2004), we use Bigo’s (2014) concept of “(in)security” as an analytical tool for the ethnographic study of the transformations of local concepts and practices of (in)security. We thus aim to uncover the multiple frictions caused by the peace process as well as alternative potentials for peace rooted in local ideas and practices. For this reason, our study focuses on such conceptions and practices of (in)security in the different micro-regions and their relationship to local historical experiences, paying special attention to the changes engendered by the current peace process. As a final outcome, the project’s findings will enrich theoretical debates in the anthropological study of peace while, at the same time, making a contribution to the successful continuation of the Colombian peace process.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Colombia, Switzerland, United Kingdom
