Tense Calm in Colombia’s Conflict: Civilians Between War and Crime.

• In Event: Preparing for Peace in Colombia – Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

In this paper I argue that tense calm, the periods of conflict between violence, produces long-term psychological impacts that last beyond conflict, but are not sufficiently recognised. Accounting for tense calm in conflict zones not only serves to better understand when violence erupts, but also to build peace in the aftermath of conflict. Tense calm shapes civilians’ experience of war in Colombia. It is part of a cycle of security dynamics during which violence can erupt at any time. It is characterised by low rates of physical violence, combined with anxiety due to people’s presentiment of violence. Rules are virtually absent during periods of tense calm before or after the outbreak of violence. This uncertainty fuels fear and mistrust among citizens, which thwarts a sense of community, and erodes social fabric. Especially in regions where conflict and crime are increasingly blurred and violent non-state groups comprise both political and criminal actors, as in Colombia’s marginalised border regions, the repercussions of tense calm on civilians are under-researched. Colombia’s post-conflict strategy must address the scars that the experience of tense calm during conflict has left in the country’s society in order to be sustainable.
The methodology of this paper is based on interviews and participant observation from locations with tense calm in conflict settings across Colombia, and in fragile settings near the border to Colombia in Ecuador and Venezuela carried out between 2011 and 2014.

Author

• Annette I Idler, University of Oxford