Comparing everyday peace preferences with the commitments of the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement

Abstract

How well do civil war peace agreements align with the post-conflict preferences of everyday people? And does the inclusivity of negotiations result in agreements that better reflect non-elite, grassroots perspectives? This article tackles these questions using a unique dataset of everyday peace indicators (EPIs) collected between 2018 and 2023 from 44 communities across eight departments in Colombia. To compare everyday preferences with the commitments of the 2016 Colombian Peace Accord, we employ the Peace Accords Matrix Colombia Barometer as a proxy for formal peace provisions. Despite praise for the inclusivity of the peace negotiations, our findings reveal that the agreement remains highly centralized, focusing on the relationship between the national government and affected groups while sidelining intra- and intercommunity dynamics and local governance. In contrast, everyday actors emphasize priorities such as cultural preservation, economic stability and intercommunity relations. These findings provide new insight into a critical gap in knowledge between local preferences and the top-down priorities of peace agreements.