To normalize conflict and denormalize violence: challenges and possibilities in a critical teaching of history of the colombian armed conflict

Abstract

This article explores the contribution history teaching may make toward peace education processes in school, specifically by addressing the history of the Colombian Armed Conflict. We analyze narratives about the armed conflict which are present in three widely disseminated history school textbooks, as well as the ¡Basta Ya!, Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity report, drafted by the Historical Memory Group (gmh, 2013). Our analysis emphasizes: i) narrative structure, ii) explanation of the causes of violence, and iii) the representation of victims’ experience. We examine these narrative elements in light of four critical inquiry categories (Problem Posing, Reflexive Skepticism, Multiperspectivity and Systemic Thinking), in order to establish the extent to which the former help foster a critical understanding of political violence. The article ends with some recommendations for a kind of history teaching capable of nurturing –in the framework of peace education–reflections that favor delegitimization of violence and non-repetition.