Variations of Peace in Colombia

Abstract

Peace and conflict are not the same across territories and scales. Conceptualizing peace as a process based on three core functions of society and related norms–provision of security, participation and conflict transformation–allows us to identify variations in peacebuilding needs and perceptions. Methodologically, the article first develops a conceptual framework and then tests it with a case study of Colombia–a subnationally diverse country with a long history of violence and peacebuilding. The entanglement of different scales shapes the diversity of peace and highlights the opportunities and challenges of peacebuilding and related norms, along with their diffusion and contestation.