ABSTRACT

The signing of the peace agreements between the FARC-EP and the Colombian Government in late November 2016 has generated new prospects for peace in Colombia, opening the possibility of redressing the harm inflicted on Colombians by Colombians.

Talking about peace and transitional justice requires us to think about how to operationalize peace agreements to promote justice and coexistence for peace. This volume brings together reflections by Colombian academics and practitioners alongside pieces provided by researchers and practitioners in other countries where transitional justice initiatives have taken place (Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Peru). This volume has been written in the south, by the south, for the south.

The book engages with the challenges ahead for the coming generations of Colombians. Rivers of ink have dealt with the end goals of transitional justice, but victims require us to take the quest for human rights beyond the normative realm of theorizing justice and into the practical realm of engaging how to implement justice initiatives.

The tension between theory—the legislative frameworks guaranteeing human rights—and practice—the realization of these ideas—will frame Colombia’s success (or failure) in consolidating the implementation of the peace agreements with the FARC-EP.

part II|102 pages

The Challenges

chapter 7|17 pages

Creole radical feminist transitional justice 1

An exploration of Colombian feminism in the context of armed conflict

chapter 8|17 pages

From combatants’ boots

Reincorporation and reconciliation 1

chapter 9|18 pages

Historical memory as symbolic reparation

Limitations and opportunities of peace infrastructures as institutional designs

chapter 11|19 pages

Transmission in times of transition

Intergenerational approaches to Colombia’s violent past and present

part III|76 pages

The Lessons