Transitional justice, demobilization, and peacebuilding amid political violence: Examining individual preferences in the Caribbean coast of Colombia

The conventional wisdom in the transitional justice literature is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. This article suggests that this may also be true within a given state. The current paper reports on quantitative and qualitative data from 184 participants in a survey conducted in the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Results suggest widespread support for transitional justice mechanisms – such as perpetrator accountability, public acknowledgement and structural change – but dissatisfaction with national-level initiatives, specifically the 2005 Justice and Peace Law. Yet, despite a distrust of the national government and protracted conflict, individuals report social trust, community cohesion and reliance on local government institutions. These attitudes and behaviours suggest that decentralised transitional justice mechanisms may be more effective in meeting victims' needs. Moreover, analyses indicate that individual preferences are influenced by community factors, such as the presence of demobilised paramilitaries, which can be addressed through more localised approaches to promote peacebuilding. The paper concludes with best practices derived from the findings.

Beyond Attribution: Responsibility of Armed Non-State Actors for Reparations in Northern Ireland, Colombia and Uganda

This chapter explores the responsibility of armed non-state actors for reparations to victims. Traditionally international law has focused on the responsibility of the state, and more recently the responsibility of convicted individuals before the International Criminal Court, to provide reparations for international crimes. Yet despite the prevalence of internal armed conflict over the past few decades, there responsibility of armed groups for reparations has been neglected in international law. Although there is a tentative emerging basis for armed groups to provide reparations under international law, such developments have not yet crystallized into hard law. However, when considering the more substantive practice of states in Northern Ireland, Colombia and Uganda, a greater effort can be discerned in ensuring that such organizations are responsible for reparations. This paper finds that not only can armed non-state actors be held collectively responsible for reparations, but due to the growing number of internal armed conflict they can play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of reparations in remedying victims’ harm. Yet, finding armed groups responsible for reparations is no panacea for accountability, due to the nature of armed conflicts, responsibility may not be distinct, but overlapping and joint, and such groups may face difficulties in meeting their obligations, thus requiring a holistic approach and subsidiary role for the state.

Impact of political violence, social trust, and depression on civic participation in Colombia

Civic participation is important for peacebuilding and democratic development; however, the role of mental health has been largely overlooked by policymakers aiming to stimulate engagement in civil society. This study investigated antecedents of civic participation in Colombia, a setting of protracted political conflict, using bootstrapped mediation in path analysis. Past exposure to violence, experience with community antisocial behavior, and perceived social trust were all significantly related to civic participation. In addition, depression mediated the impact of past exposure to political violence and perceived social trust, but not community antisocial behavior, on civic participation. In this context, findings challenged depictions of helpless victims and instead suggested that when facing greater risk (past violence exposure and community antisocial behavior), individuals responded in constructive ways, taking on agency in their communities. Social trust in one’s neighbors and community also facilitated deeper engagement in civic life. Relevant to the mediation test, interventions aiming to increase civic participation should take mental health into account. Limitations and possible future research are discussed.

Reconstructing the Social Fabric amid On-going Violence: Attitudes toward Reconciliation and Structural Transformation in Colombia

Given the increase of reconciliation processes initiated amid on-going violence, this study focuses on community reconciliation and its relation to structural transformation, or social reconstruction through reforming unjust institutions and practices that facilitate protracted violent conflict. Drawing lessons from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, mixed method analyses include eight in-depth interviews and 184 surveys. Four key dimensions of reconciliation – truth, justice, mercy, peace – are examined. In the interviews, participants prioritize reconstructing the truth and bringing perpetrators to justice as essential aspects of reconciliation. Notions of mercy and forgiveness are less apparent. For the participants, sustainable peace is dependent on structural transformation to improve livelihoods. These data, however, do not indicate how this understanding of reconciliation may relate to individual participation in reconciliation processes. Complementing the qualitative data, quantitative analyses identify some broad patterns that relate to participation in reconciliation events. Compared to those who did not participate, individuals who engaged in reconciliation initiatives report higher levels of personal experience with violence, live alongside demobilized paramilitaries, are more engaged in civic life, and express greater preference for structural transformation. The paper concludes with policy implications that integrate reconciliation and structural transformation to deepen efforts to rebuild the social fabric amid violence.

Los guardianes de la tierra: Los indígenas y su relación con el medio ambiente

La conservación de los bosques ha sido denominada "la guerra ambiental más grande de nuestro tiempo". La pérdida irreversible de recursos, la desaparición dé especies vivientes (flora y fauna), el recalentamiento de la atmósfera, son algunas de las consecuencias parangonables solo con el desastre cósmico que supuso la desaparición de los dinosaurios. Así, la lucha por la conservación del medio ambiente sobre todo de los bosques tropicales como la Amazonia, se ha vuelto una conquista que supera las fronteras e intereses nacionales para convertirse en una causa universal: la vida de toda la humanidad está en juego. : Páralos pueblos indígenas el drama es todavía mayor. Han aprendido a convivir con la naturaleza sin extorcionarlá ni destruirla, en una simbiosis tan completa y misteriosa, que no pueden desaparecer las selvas y los bosques sin que también desaparezcan las culturas que cobijan, y viceversa. Ello ha dado pie para que se pueda afirmar: defiende los indígenas, salva los bosques. Por eso, la causa indígena tiene tanto que ver con el problema ambiental y ecológico y por ello también, la civilización urbana, esa gran depredadora, extractivisma y de consumo, debe urgentemente considerar la actitud indígena para con la naturaleza si quiere encontrar un camino viable para asegurar su propio futuro.

Aporte de los pueblos indígenas de América Latina a la teología cristiana

Este folleto recoge los materiales que han salido de los grupos y de los plenarios de la Segunda Consulta Ecuménica "Aporte de los pueblos indígenas de América Latina a la Teología Cristiana", celebrada en Quito, entre los días 30 de junio y 6 de julio de 1986. No se trata de un texto oficial, elaborado por la totalidad de la asamblea.

Los pueblos indígenas de México

INDICE DE LA OBRA ¿Qué significa ser indígena en el México de hoy? Los indígenas vistos desde afuera La ley y el gobierno frente a los indígenas Las identidades indígenas La gran pluralidad de los indígenas Las herencias históricas Las raíces prehispánicas Conquista y Colonia, las diferentes experiencias La vida de los indígenas en el México independiente El siglo XX Las comunidades indígenas: su vida política y social El territorio y la tierra Las formas de gobierno, una compleja historia Los sistemas de cargos Los consejos de ancianos Las asambleas comunitarias El consenso La comunidad y el exterior El trabajo comunitario Los sistemas jurídicos Cambios en la vida política Las realidades culturales indígenas Las lenguas indígenas hoy Lenguas indígenas y escritura Las lenguas indígenas y el español Las cosmovisiones indígenas Las religiones indígenas Las nuevas religiones La situación socioeconómica de los indígenas La agricultura de subsistencia y sus problemas Las formas de la marginación Género y marginación Las nuevas realidades socioeconómicas Los proyectos de desarrollo y las culturas indígenas Los indígenas y la nación, hoy y mañana Las sociedades indígenas en la encrucijada “Nunca más un México sin nosotros” La autonomía indígena ¿Problema indígena o problema nacional? Hacia un México verdaderamente plural

The Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative: An examination of MOOC usage for professional workforce development outcomes in Colombia, the Philippines, & South Africa

The potential of online learning has long afforded the hope of providing quality education to anyone, anywhere in the world. The recent development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) heralded an exciting new breakthrough by providing free academic instruction and professional skills development from the world’s leading universities to anyone with the sufficient resources to access the internet. The research in Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative study was designed to analyze the MOOC landscape in developing countries and to better understand the motivations of MOOC users and afford insights on the advantages and limitations of MOOCs for workforce development outcomes. The key findings of this study challenge commonly held beliefs about MOOC usage in developing countries, defying typical characterizations of how people in resource constrained settings use technology for learning and employment. In fact, some of the findings are so contrary to what has been reported in the U.S. and other developed environments that they raise new questions for further investigation.

Gold, power, protest: Digital and social media and protests against large-scale mining projects in Colombia

Colombia’s Internet connectivity has increased immensely. Colombia has also ‘opened for business’, leading to an influx of extractive projects to which social movements object heavily. Studies on the role of digital media in political mobilisation in developing countries are still scarce. Using surveys, interviews, and reviews of literature, policy papers, website and social media content, this study examines the role of digital and social media in social movement organisations and asks how increased digital connectivity can help spread knowledge and mobilise mining protests. Results show that the use of new media in Colombia is hindered by socioeconomic constraints, fear of oppression, the constraints of keyboard activism and strong hierarchical power structures within social movements. Hence, effects on political mobilisation are still limited. Social media do not spontaneously produce non-hierarchical knowledge structures. Attention to both internal and external knowledge sharing is therefore conditional to optimising digital and social media use.

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