Claiming ‘Space' in the City: The Resettlement of Rural Displaced Persons in Medellín, Colombia.

• In Event: Periferias urbanas: segregación, fragmentación, riesgos y conflicto

Abstract

The crisis of conflict-induced internal displacement has affected not only the Colombian countryside but it has also transformed the city. 90% of displaced persons who resettle in the city are from rural areas, therefore an examination of the city as an active agent in the process of resettlement is necessary to understand how, and to what degree, the displaced are able to reconstruct their lives post-displacement. This paper examines the dynamics of integration of rural internally displaced persons as they reconstruct their lives in Medellín, Colombia--which currently receives the largest number of displacees from outside the municipality--taking a special look at the role of grassroots organizations that call attention to the rights of displaced persons living on the peripheries of the city- often considered “illegal” settlements--fighting for their basic rights, such as water, energy and protection. Using ethnographic research, I highlight rural displacees’ engagement with the various social actors, and their struggles to claim 'space' in the city. I use interface, a concept introduced by rural development sociologist, Norman Long (1989), as an analytical approach to understand if the interactions between the Colombian state, NGOs, and displacees, through programs and organizations, lead to the formation of new community identities that might impact the resettlement and socio-economic incorporation of displaced persons in urban areas. Studying migrant incorporation is important because the process affects the development and future of migrants, as well as affecting and remaking the receiving community.

Author

• Claudia M Lopez, University of California/Santa Cruz