Challenges and alternatives towards peacebuilding. Israel Biel Portero
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 dynamics of the conflict and the post-agreement in Nariñense territory is analyzed by Amanda Riascos and Alba Lucy Ortega in the second chapter. The authors agree with the analysis made in the first chapter by Biel and Casanova and take a closer look at the set of instruments and mechanisms addressed to promote post-agreement transformations. With a reflective approach, they find that conflict is a social effect that will be present in the department of Nariño and that its accentuation will be proportional to the extent that structural social problems are not resolved. Therefore, a culture of conflict resolution is necessary with peaceful negotiation strategies that make it possible to maintain coexistence in the territories with clear policies of economic opportunities, education and social inclusion.
In the third chapter, the authors Andrés Salas, Franco Montenegro and Julie Benavides conduct a study that positions health as a fundamental human right. Therefore, they develop a demographic analysis, on the health conditions of the population of the municipalities of Leiva, Policarpa and Los Andes, to project the current quality of life of the rural population and explain how the implementation of the Peace Agreement can improve this situation, resolving epidemiological problems that affect physical, mental and social wellbeing at different life stages of the population: early childhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and the elderly.
The fourth chapter, by Deicy Villarreal, addresses the challenges of education and pedagogy in rurality. They can lead to social transformation if the contributions of social pedagogy are resumed, leading criticism, reflection, freedom through historical knowledge, social justice and the search for good living with alternative pedagogical processes; contextualized and built participatively with the populations that contribute to the construction of peace in the territories.
Along the same lines, the fifth chapter, by Ángela Mora and Claudia Guerrero, emphasizes the criteria of quality and relevance of rural education as a factor that has had a negative impact on rural poverty, armed conflict and the development of illegal economies.
The sixth chapter, by Karen Ocaña, Natalia Villota and Camilo Fajardo, shows the educational experience of the 45 young beneficiaries of the “Rural Development Alternatives” project and the importance of planning rural education environments that make it possible to reduce student dropout rates using strategies of academic support, student welfare, entrepreneurship and graduate support.
The seventh chapter, by Mauricio Chamorro and Ronal Urbina, theoretically analyzes the relationship of rural and agrarian studies with the prevailing economic models of Latin America. The authors encounter divergent approaches and political initiatives over the last 80 years in the region. However, they recognize that