The Colombian government and the guerrilla group FARC signed a peace agreement in 2016, in which the warring sides established a route for the social, political, and economic reincorporation of FARC ex-combatants.
In the Colombia case study, we focus on two broad purposes. First, provide a test of the micro-foundations underpinning well-established macro-level theories in the literatures on civil war dynamics and the stability of peace in post-conflict settings. Second, with our findings, we hope to inform and orient the design and implementation of reincorporation policies in Colombia.
We pay special attention to those areas where trust and governance are likely to play a vital role. In particular, trust among ex-combatants, between ex-combatants and local communities, and towards government institutions implementing the accords are crucial likely determinants of successful reincorporation. Economic inequality is likely to be an important mediating factor, as are perceived inequalities that may affect trust in these dimensions and undermine reincorporation. Examples include perceived unequal treatment by society or the government if ex-combatants are either discriminated against or are perceived to receive preferential treatment as beneficiaries of the peace accord.
The Colombia case study includes a quantitative panel of approximately 4,000 face-to-face surveys, focus groups, behavioural games, and the training of 30 ex-combatants in survey methods. This is an innovation whereby trained ex-combatants will implement a self-contained survey module, both to put their knowledge in practice and to further enrich the investigation with their data collection.
This case study is a joint effort between researchers at Universidad de los Andes and other academic institutions with the Colombian Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) and the FARC component of the National Council for Reincorporation (CNR).
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