Lugares, recorridos y sentidos de la memoria histórica: acercamientos metodológicos

244 páginasEste libro es una iniciativa de los Grupos Regionales de Memoria Histórica (GRMH), que, junto con el Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica desde el 2013 generaron propuestas para la construcción de memoria histórica en Colombia. El objetivo de la consolidación de los GRMH ha sido reconocer procesos de investigación locales que hacen profesores universitarios para tejer puentes entre las instituciones del país y comunidades victimizadas en el marco del con icto armado interno de Colombia. Aunque las apuestas de investigación social participativa se nutren de múltiples aristas, disciplinas y escuelas de pensamiento, existen particularidades metodológicas en las investigaciones que se formulan en clave de memoria histórica que, en esta ocasión, son transversales y se profundizan en cada capítulo.La fuerza de la memoria: hilos, nudos y reflexiones de una trayectoria colectiva || Introducción || El objeto-relato como dispositivo de memoria: el caso del grupo de alabao de pogue, bojayá, chocó || Metodologías colaborativas y memorias con potencial transformador en la comunidad de Puerto Gaviotas, Calamar, Guaviar

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

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

Re-thinking recovery in post-conflict settings: Supporting the mental well-being of communities in Colombia

21 páginaAddressing mental health needs is a central focus of the Colombian Government’s framework for socio-political reconstruction following over 60 years of conflict. Informed by WHO standards, country efforts utilise biopsychosocial models that prioritise individual psychological and psychiatric conditions. However, increasing scrutiny of the deployment of Western approaches to mental health and recovery in the global south suggests a need to explore the best route to improving mental health outcomes. Our research contributes to these debates through a qualitative study of local understandings of mental health recovery related concepts among internally displaced persons in Colombia. Analysis of focus groups with 40 internally displaced men and women established definitions for emotional distress and recovery as parallel processes linked to the fracture and rebuilding of social worlds and family life. Definitions were shaped heavily by cultural, political, economic and legal contexts of everyday survival, often linked to experiences of structural and symbolic forms of violence. We conclude that a locally informed mental health recovery model that stretches beyond individual experiences of mental ill-health to promote ideas of collective social change would be best suited to addressing mental health needs of internally displaced groups in Colombia. Implications for practice are discussed