Territorialities in transition: Population displaced by the violence of the Colombian armed conflict resignifying the territory

Abstract

Armed violence in Colombia forces people to leave their territory to safeguard life. Four case studies with displaced populations - women heads of household, Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, and peasants - were undertaken to approach understanding of two main processes in which are immersed the migrants aiming to overcome the loss of its place in the world: deterritorialization and reterritorialization. The research showed among the multiple effects that befall these people, the dynamics of reconstruction of a territory for themselves requiring them to adapt to high precarious conditions in a spiral of poverty and dependence that holds them to the social and economic State assistance. Understanding the process they go through involves approaching to a symbolic dimension: meanings and relationships with the place of origin and place of resettlement; and a material dimension: housing, work, social relationships and leisure.