of the actions proposed by the inter-institutional alliance was this interdisciplinary project that involves the research groups: Indesco, La Minga, Eslinga, GIISE, GIOD of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia and GICAEF of the Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios.
The authors of the book integrate academic experiences around the social, human, legal, economic and engineering sciences. The research shares a qualitative and quantitative approach to consolidate an exploratory scope, in topics that are rarely addressed in the territory of analysis (the Cordillera region of the department of Nariño), and descriptive scope by the analysis of the phenomena concerning rural development and peacebuilding.
Introduction
“Peace requires a collective responsibility in order to leave a better place filled with hope for future generations”.
Alfredo Molano
Ángela Marcela Castillo Burbano
Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Campus Pasto
Territory has traditionally been understood as a geopolitical notion associated with the concepts of State, control, limits and borders. However, the analysis of territory in the Latin American region takes on particular nuances associated with the sociopolitical claim of marginalized groups; this means that the analysis of territory currently includes broader meanings about the spatial processes related to the production-reproduction of identity, the control and appropriation of natural resources, the autonomy dispute (Sandoval, Robertsdotter and Paredes, 2017), defense and the demands of social movements when faced with the violation of their rights, among other dynamics.
In that polysemic view of territory, the country has begun down the path of peacebuilding; a desired peace that finds its foundations in the territory and in the fulfillment of rights to the population that inhabits said space. Beyond the silencing of guns, the peace agreement must remediate the victims, guarantee constitutional rights to all Colombians and generate guarantees of protection and non-repetition. From there, the category of territorial peace arises, as the armed conflict affected some territories more than others and because the change must mobilize guarantees of peace to the most affected (Jaramillo, 2014).
One of the main causes of the armed conflict, recognized by many academics, is the historical debt of the State to the Colombian countryside (Molano, Estrada, Restrepo). There has been a stronger spatial evolution of the conflict in rural settings; which is why one of the approaches adopted by this work involves rural development as a strategy for the consolidation of territorial peace. This process of rural progress through territorial development refers specifically to the local scnerarios; that is, the relevance of considering local particularities in the face of national or global homogenizing trends. In other words, the rural environment invites us to analyze the specificities of the environment, our own social and spatial capacities, and also the power disputes between local and external actors so as to guide the planning and territorial management processes in a way that satisfies social needs over a broad spectrum of human rights.
This research book starts by broadening the discussion on the subject, territorially involving three municipalities in the Cordillera region of the department of Nariño, characterized by a permanent territorial conflict with dynamics such as: the high incidence of armed conflict, the concentration of illegal armed groups, the low direct presence of the State, the low institutional offer for the generation of initiatives in territorial development, the weak road infrastructure that hinders access to municipalities, and the low coverage of basic services for the population. The context in question indicates a high vulnerability for a population of around 44,000 inhabitants in 2018. With the signing of the “Acuerdo Final de Paz” or “Final Peace Agreement” and the deployment of the instruments for its implementation, concrete actions are expected to reduce this vulnerability and uncertainty in the population. Once the agreements were signed, the silencing of the guns diminished the violence significantly, however, with the departure of the FARC-EP from the territory and the absence of the State, the territory in question is permeated by a deployment of new armed groups, dissidents, rearmed guerrillas or paramilitary groups, sparking warnings of a new conflict.
The aforementioned requires the fulfillment and effective implementation of the points contemplated in the Agreement and a permanent inter-institutional accompaniment to develop territorial management actions, in the understanding that the consolidation of territorial peace for the area of the Nariñense mountain range not only depends on the signature of an agreement, but of a high regional cohesion that firmly plants the organizational and associative capacity of the population, the agricultural vocation and the natural and cultural diversity of the territory in the foundations of its territorial planning.
Studying the different situations that the present peace agreement evokes within the territory, at the national level in Colombia and local level in the Nariñense mountain range, motivated the present collective work within the framework of the research project in which different research groups, attached to the universities of the inter-institutional alliance, participated.
The research methodology responds to a mixed methodological approach related to epistemological lines of the social sciences, integrating interdisciplinary studies of the socio-legal, sociological, demographic, economic and territorial order. For this reason, the work benefits from a methodological diversity and various information gathering techniques that combine quantitative techniques (with the generation of statistics and indicator analyses) with qualitative techniques (that combine document reviews, theoretical conceptualization and focus groups) to generate contributions in the comprehension of social phenomena.
The work, divided into three parts, places special emphasis on the three rural development objectives sought by the institutional alliance of universities and the Ministry of National Education: contribute to the educational field in rural settings affected by the armed conflict, identify opportunities for inclusion and economic dynamics, and energize citizen participation, thereby bolstering reflection on peace agreements, their challenges and opportunities in Colombia. The first part of the book, called “Construction of peace and human rights”, focuses on the academic discussion surrounding what happened, at both the national level and in Nariño, regarding the historical process of peacebuilding and human rights, seen in the Final Agreement for the end of conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace, between the FARC- EP and the National Government. The second part, called “Education for rural development”, analyzes education as a fundamental right and as an energizing axis of rural development, prioritizing the different educational needs of rurality and the relevance required to boost social mobility in that environment. The third and last part of the book, called “Economic models of rural development and local productive dynamics”, contemplates two views; the first, on critical debates about theories of rural development, economic models and the agrarian question, in contrast to the alternatives towards a more supportive economy, and the second takes up the criteria of territorial development to analyze factors that can help in its fulfillment through social responsibility, associativity and productive opportunities for quality coffee.
In the first chapter, the authors Israel Biel and Andrea Casanova analyze the most important current challenges in building a stable and lasting peace in Colombia: the issue of the Colombian countryside and the need to emphasize the Comprehensive Rural Reform that provides a solution to the illicit drug problems; and the transformation of the armed confrontation into an open political discussion with guarantees of democratic spaces and rights for the victims, structured around a system of judicial and extrajudicial mechanisms aimed at guaranteeing the truth, reparations, justice and non-repetition. The challenges that have been analyzed seem to stall, with the same difficulties and setbacks observed during the implementation of the Agreement. This reflects a resurgence of violence in Nariño, along with an increase in crops for illicit use and other dynamics that imply rethinking the implementation strategies for this region.
The
