Achieving an enduring peace in Colombia will require compromise and engagement from every sector of society, but by remaining authoritative, plural, and independent, academia can play a crucial role, write Francisco Panizza and Gonzalo Vargas

Panizza, Francisco

Vargas, Gonzalo

LSE Research Online

Academia has a vital role to play in Colombia’s peaceprocessblogs.lse.ac.uk /latamcaribbean/2017/02/03/academia-has-a-vital-role-to-play-in-colombias-peace-process/Achieving an enduring peace in Colombia will require compromise and engagement from everysector of society, but by remaining authoritative, plural, and independent, academia can play acrucial role, write Francisco Panizza and Gonzalo Vargas.• Disponible también en españolThe Colombian peace process has the potential to bring significant benefits to the people of thecountry and beyond. But its implementation faces massive challenges that cannot and should notbe underestimated.  Academia can play a unique and important role in addressing thesechallenges, not least through the Observatory on the Colombia Peace Process currently beingestablished by the LSE Latin American and Caribbean Centre and the Universidad de Los Andes inBogotá.The first and most pressing challenge facing the peace process is to bring the nation together andexplain how the benefits of peace can outweigh the legitimate concerns of those who opted not to vote or votedagainst the peace deal in the referendum of October 2016.  These concerns vary according to political views, socialclass, and the particular impacts of past violence on particular citizens, families, and communities, with the conflictbeing experienced very differently in major cities than in those rural areas which bore the brunt of the violence.Yet the 2018 presidential election campaign is likely to polarise even further Colombia’s already deeply dividedsociety.  In this context it may prove extremely difficult to find trusted sources of information and analysis on theimplementation of the peace process.The second, deeper challenge is to ensure that the peace process goes beyond simply silencing the guns. Instead,it must begin to address the underlying conditions that have made violence so prevalent in Colombia over the pasthalf century. For the peace process to take proper root, the social, political, and economic order of the communitiesworst affected by the violence must be transformed in accordance with principles of democracy, economic inclusion,and social justice.In facing these key challenges, academics naturally cannot claim a monopoly on the truth, but they can make animportant contribution to an informed debate on the peace process both within and outside Colombia.1/3Part of this contribution will come from the LSE Latin American and Caribbean Centre and the Universidad de losAndes, as we are working together to set up an international Observatory that will be able to provide precisely thekinds of research, analysis and information that this complex process will require. In order to do this successfully,three characteristics will be key: authoritativeness, plurality, and independence.The Observatory will be authoritative because its analyses will be research-led and undertaken by experts from awide range of disciplines and departments within both institutions. It will be plural because it will be open tocontributors within and outside Colombia, including all sectors of Colombia’s civil society (not least Redprodepaz, anationwide coalition of peacebuilding organisations).  And it will be independent because even while acknowledgingthe desirability of peace, it will critically assess the progress of the process, highlighting achievements andshortcomings alike.Through joint workshops held at Universidad de los Andesin Bogotá (pictured left), researchers from the two institutionshave already identified a number of topics that are key toachieving a sustainable peace:What is the role of international actors as potential facilitators ofor obstacles to the peace process? What are the mainchallenges facing the mechanisms of transitional justice andhow can transitional-justice actors best rise to thesechallenges? How will the peace process impact on urbansecurity?  How can we build state capacities to reduce inequalities and promote more inclusive development? Whatis the likely impact of the peace process on gender violence and how can we bring a gender perspective to theconstruction of peace? What is the role of business in the political economy of transition to peace? How canelectoral reform contribute to the achievement of a more transparent and inclusive democracy?  And how can webegin to overcome the key territorial dimension of peace?As we begin to unpick these complex issues, colleagues and partners from both institutions, both countries, andboth continents will report back on our findings in a special series of articles for this blog, beginning with LSE’sAustin Zeiderman on the politics of threat in Colombia’s post-conflict society.Achieving a lasting peace in Colombia will require compromise and engagement from every sector and segment ofsociety. Academia is ideally placed to support this process, and we must seize the opportunity with both hands.2/3Notes:• The views expressed here are of the authors and do not reflect the position of the Centre or of the LSE• Featured-image credit: crop of Marcha Patriotica (CC BY-ND 2.0)• Main-body photo credit: copyright © 2016, Gonzalo Vargas• Please read our Comments Policy before commentingFrancisco Panizza – LSE Department of GovernmentProfessor Francisco Panizza joined the LSE in 1995, having previously worked at AmnestyInternational, University of Essex, Universidad de la República (Montevideo), and UniversidadNacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM). He is currently setting up an Observatory on the peaceprocess in Colombia within the Latin America and Caribbean Centre.Gonzalo Vargas – Universidad de los AndesProfessor Gonzalo Vargas teaches and researches violence, security, and development at theInterdisciplinary Centre for Development Studies, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. He receivedhis PhD in Development Studies from LSE in 2010. Together with Francisco Panizza he is settingup an Observatory on Colombia’s peace process at Universidad de los Andes. © LSE 20163/3

Academia has a vital role to play in Colombia’s peace process

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