ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how everyday life in a rural Colombian community was shaped by various forms of local order. An extended period of disorder, in which paramilitaries and guerrillas tried to gain territorial control, evolved into “shadow citizenship” with guerrilla rule. This situation was followed by the establishment of a “peace territory” in which state and non-state armed actors as well as civilians were asked to abide by a certain set of rules of behavior, only to revert back into “shadow citizenship” again. We argue that the Church and the Organization of American States were key in establishing the peace territory because they contributed to challenging the guerrillas’ main source of legitimacy: order through illicit coercion.
