The envoy: A government "peace pedagogy" session in Colombia's transition

Abstract

In 2016, Colombia said "No" to peace in a referendum, after a staunch misinformation campaign. Responding to society's calls for official information on the Peace Accord, the government employed a strategy called "peace pedagogy" to counter the "No" campaign's "myths" with "realities". But can we really know which is which? Based on ethnographic research in the government's peace office, this narrative article invites us into the shoes of a government official and a conflict victim during a peace pedagogy session, to imagine what it means to bear, and receive, this official message. In our global concern for post-truth politics, peace pedagogy offers a tool for government-society communication in contexts of misinformation and polarisation.