Societal reconciliation in post-accord Colombia: a psychosocial investigation of knowledge encounters

Fonseca Durán, Laura Milena (2024) Societal reconciliation in post-accord Colombia: a psychosocial investigation of knowledge encounters. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the role of knowledge encounters in prefiguring societal reconciliation in post-conflict Colombia. Drawing on theories of social representation and social identity, the thesis expands the social psychology of peace and reconciliation to elucidate how everyday encounters between historically and geographically distant actors reshape understandings of Self and Other, change representations about peace and conflict and build novel alliances and partnerships. The research design is a multi-method psychosocial ethnography comprising three empirical studies investigating an educational partnership between a rural community of former guerrilla members who are reincorporating into society, and an urban private university in Bogota. Study 1 investigates the transformation of social representations about self, other, peace and reconciliation held by urban students living with former guerrilla members. It finds that for urban youth, encountering guerrilla members for the first time presents an opportunity for self-reflection and transformation of conflict-related narratives and identities. Study 2 studies the process of collective reincorporation of former guerrilla members through the different identity positions they adopt and the changing representations they hold about peace and reconciliation. It finds that the journey of reintegration engenders a polyphony of selves in dialogue and tension, as they develop new ways of managing identity to become citizens while maintaining the integrity of their biographical history as ‘farianos’. Study 3 explores the potential of the educational partnership between former guerrilla members and academic researchers for promoting societal reconciliation and collaborative peacebuilding. It finds that the partnership builds trusting relationships and shared intentionality that enables an expansion of identities where former guerrilla members become community teachers, and teachers see themselves as agents of peace. Combined, these findings highlight the potential of educational safe spaces for promoting transformative knowledge encounters that prefigure dialogical social interactions among cultural, social and politically opposed social groups. A focus on everyday encounters and multisector partnerships shows that sustainable peacebuilding is inseparable from processes of community development, institutional and individual transformation.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Laura Milena Fonseca Durán
Library of Congress subject classification:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Sets:	Departments > Psychological and Behavioural Science
Supervisor:	Jovchelovitch, Sandra
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4667

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