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Fear, Distrust and Protection in Violent Societies
Type
applied research project
Start Date
01 January 2012
End Date
31 December 2013
Status
scheduled
Keywords
fear
distrust
protection
violence
conflict
security
demobilization
illegal armed groups
Latin America
Description
Within the context of fear, distrust and protection in violent societies, this research project includes three separate but related individual studies. The first two are in advanced phases. Both are thematically related to my doctoral research about former illegal combatants, but use different theoretical and methodological approaches. One focuses on trust of state institutions, the other on illegal collective protection mechanisms. The third study is still in a relatively early stage and integrates the concepts of fear, distrust and protection into one theoretical framework.
- Trusting the Enemy - Determinants of Confidence in State Institutions among Ex-Combatants (with Ben Oppenheim, UC Berkeley): This project is based on a survey with former combatants of illegal armed groups in Colombia (1485 ex-members of guerrilla and paramilitary groups). It intends to identify the determinants of their level of trust in state institutions. Ex-combatants can be seen as an extreme case of distrustful people since not only rhetorically, but by their very act of taking up arms, they have proven their disagreement with the legitimacy of the state. Constructing trust in state institutions is hence a crucial issue in the aftermath of their participation in political conflict in order to prevent reengagement in violent behavior.
- Breakdown of Protection or New Contestation? Reasons for Urban Violence after Illegal Armed Group Demobilization (with Kimberly Howe, Tufts University): This project draws on a mixed methods design and explores the case of the paramilitary demobilization in Colombia. Although the demobilization of illegal armed groups is commonly used as a violence reduction strategy, our municipality-level panel database suggests that the paramilitary demobilization did not have a beneficial impact on homicide rates. In order to understand this unfavorable development more closely, a case study identifies the causal mechanisms relating demobilization to violence in urban contexts. Among other explanations, the breakdown of the earlier protection system provided by the paramilitaries may account for this evolution.
- Fear in Violent Societies - Constructing a Multidisciplinary Theoretical Framework: Systematic research on fear (especially fear of crime) has often focused on countries with relatively low violence rates. This project looks at fear in violent societies and how it relates to distrust and protection (benefiting from findings of Project 1 and 2). The three concepts have been separately analyzed in a wide range of disciplines. However, the aim of this project is to combine them in an integrated theoretical framework. I hypothesize that high fear and low trust levels in violent societies lead predominantly to either individual avoidance behavior or informal collective protection strategies. Both strategies may have detrimental effects on a societal level and perpetuate violence.
- Trusting the Enemy - Determinants of Confidence in State Institutions among Ex-Combatants (with Ben Oppenheim, UC Berkeley): This project is based on a survey with former combatants of illegal armed groups in Colombia (1485 ex-members of guerrilla and paramilitary groups). It intends to identify the determinants of their level of trust in state institutions. Ex-combatants can be seen as an extreme case of distrustful people since not only rhetorically, but by their very act of taking up arms, they have proven their disagreement with the legitimacy of the state. Constructing trust in state institutions is hence a crucial issue in the aftermath of their participation in political conflict in order to prevent reengagement in violent behavior.
- Breakdown of Protection or New Contestation? Reasons for Urban Violence after Illegal Armed Group Demobilization (with Kimberly Howe, Tufts University): This project draws on a mixed methods design and explores the case of the paramilitary demobilization in Colombia. Although the demobilization of illegal armed groups is commonly used as a violence reduction strategy, our municipality-level panel database suggests that the paramilitary demobilization did not have a beneficial impact on homicide rates. In order to understand this unfavorable development more closely, a case study identifies the causal mechanisms relating demobilization to violence in urban contexts. Among other explanations, the breakdown of the earlier protection system provided by the paramilitaries may account for this evolution.
- Fear in Violent Societies - Constructing a Multidisciplinary Theoretical Framework: Systematic research on fear (especially fear of crime) has often focused on countries with relatively low violence rates. This project looks at fear in violent societies and how it relates to distrust and protection (benefiting from findings of Project 1 and 2). The three concepts have been separately analyzed in a wide range of disciplines. However, the aim of this project is to combine them in an integrated theoretical framework. I hypothesize that high fear and low trust levels in violent societies lead predominantly to either individual avoidance behavior or informal collective protection strategies. Both strategies may have detrimental effects on a societal level and perpetuate violence.
Leader contributor(s)
Nussio, Enzo
Partner(s)
Political Science Department, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
fear
distrust
protection
violence
conflict
security
demobilization
illegal armed groups
Latin America
Method(s)
survey research
mixed methods
case studies
Range
School
Range (De)
School
Eprints ID
207341
Reference Number
PBSGP1_141324
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PublicationWhat if the FARC demobilizes?In September 2012, the Colombian government officially announced ongoing peace talks with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This gesture was the first of its kind since the failed negotiation process with the same guerrilla group during the government of Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) (see Villarraga 2009). The FARC remains the largest and strongest non-state armed group operating in the country, and can be traced back to as early as 1964. Observers of the current negotiations are largely optimistic about the prospects for peace and the end of the decades-long conflict. A jointly created document entitled the ‘General Agreement for the Ending of Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Durable Peace' (FARC and Gobierno de Colombia 2012) lays out the six points to be discussed during the negotiations. Point three on this list - ‘end of the conflict' - envisages the ‘abandonment of weapons' and the ‘economic, social and political reincorporation of the FARC into civilian life'. While other elements of the peace negotiations may be equally fundamental, in this piece, we focus on this specific point and highlight some of the critical issues that might emerge if the peace process between the Colombian government and this guerrilla group is successful. The ideas presented here are based on several historical applications of former combatant disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) as a peacebuilding activity. We particularly attempt to extract implications from the demobilization of the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 2003 and 2006 (Nussio 2011a), the ongoing desertion and reintegration of individual guerrilla members (Anaya 2007), and the accumulated knowledge about the structure and history of the FARC (Pizarro Leongómez 2011).[1] Although the peace process is likely to face many obstacles - and a complete failure is possible - we nevertheless remain positive about a negotiated settlement. As such, we reflect here on the critical issues that might need to be considered to support a sustainable and peaceful outcome.Type: journal articleJournal: Stability: International Journal of Security & DevelopmentVolume: 1Issue: 1DOI: 10.5334/sta.aj
Scopus© Citations 13