This thesis explores the role that ‘territory’ has played in the origins, negotiation, and implementation of Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement. It centres on the experiences of members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group and argues that the different and sometimes contradictory meanings which FARC, government and civil society actors inscribed into the concept ‘territorial peace’ continue to shape the dynamics of political relationships at the local level.
The thesis is situated within and against the ‘local turn’ and the more recent ‘spatial turn’ in peace studies. It draws together Latin American geographical perspectives with contemporary insights from studies of Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes, a well-established cornerstone of international peace agreements. I argue that the Colombian peace process provides an opportune moment to advance DDR research, and that far from a smooth transition from combatant to civilian or from armed group to political party, the FARC are now best understood as a “movement-party” which strategically combine electoral and contentious practices as they (re)territorialise. This framing recognises the limitations of an exclusive focus on elections, the express aspirations of FARC members and the fuzzy boundaries between movements and parties in Colombia, Latin America and beyond.
Analysis draws on an extensive literature review on Colombia’s conflict with first-hand data collected during 9 months of fieldwork. I focused on two case studies: Agua Bonita, one of the transitionary camps established for the FARC to disarm, situated in a rural, conflict-affected region, and Cali, a major city where many FARC members have migrated and where they were also active in clandestine form. Carrying out research across these sites allowed me to engage with urgent gaps in DDR research and draw important methodological, theoretical and policy insights.
