Community life in Colombia under the surveillance of extreme right paramilitary organizations

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which surveillance mechanisms implemented by the paramilitaries (AUC) in certain regions of Colombia have contributed to the establishment of specific forms of social interactions. The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which the permanent surveillance to which the population is subjected, conditions the ways that people establish contact and communicate with one another, and undermines the construction of the stable references necessary for community life.