This article analyzes how different civil society actors in Colombia used civil resistance to influence the peace process between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) between 2010 and 2021, thereby contributing to a recent research agenda on civil resistance and peace processes. Drawing on interviews and documentary analysis, we examine how social actors employed nonviolent resistance tactics to: (i) get the parties to the negotiating table, (ii) carve themselves a space to participate in the process and influence it, (iii) press the parties to take measures to alleviate civilians’ suffering, (iv) help the parties overcome hurdles at the negotiating table, and (v) push for a resumption of peace talks after their suspension in 2019. We find that, although the peace negotiations did not reach a successful conclusion at the time, the pro-peace movement helped to generate a propitious environment for such negotiations to take place and backed the parties’ efforts to achieve peace. These findings suggest a theory of change that departs from Gene Sharp’s theory of power–-which underlies most civil resistance studies–-for pro-peace movements. Our data indeed show that pro-peace civil resistance campaigns contribute to peace processes mainly by influencing society at large, rather than the parties directly.
Author Bio(s)
Cécile Mouly is a research professor and coordinator of the research group in peace and conflict at FLACSO Ecuador. She holds a Ph.D. in International Studies (University of Cambridge) and has published on peace-building, civil resistance, peace processes, transitional justice and the reintegration of former combatants, including a recent edited volume on the peace process between the Colombian government and ELN with Esperanza Hernández (Peter Lang, 2023) and a handbook on peace and conflict studies (Peter Lang, 2022) (open access in Spanish). She possesses practical experience in conflict transformation and peace-building in different countries (e.g. Burundi, Nepal, Ecuador-Colombia) with various organizations (UN, The Carter Center, OAS), and has facilitated trainings on conflict analysis, peace-building, peace journalism and nonviolent action. She is one of the resource persons in “Conflict Prevention: Analysis for Action” of the UN System Staff College, and was part of the Ecuador team in support for the Colombian truth commission.
Esperanza Hernández Delgado holds a PhD in Peace, Conflict and Democracy from the University of Granada, Spain. She is a research professor in peace studies, focusing on local peace initiatives, civil resistance, imperfect peace, mediation in armed conflicts, reintegration of former combatants, peace processes, transition of armed actors and reconciliation. She has facilitated pilot projects of reconciliation between victims and former combatants. She is the author of various publications on these issues, including a recent edited volume on the peace process between the Colombian government and ELN with Cécile Mouly “Una paz aplazada, pero urgente y necesaria. Proceso de paz entre el Gobierno colombiano y el Ejército de Liberación Nacional (2010–2019)” (Peter Lang, 2023) and the article “Civil resistance: a collective, peaceful and transformative power” (Institut Catalá Internacional Per la Pau, 2022). She coordinates the Peace Laboratory at the University of La Salle, Colombia and is associated to the Doctorate in Education and Society at this university.
Mouly, Cécile and Hernández Delgado, Esperanza
(2024)
"Mobilizing for Peace: Civil Society’s Influence on the Peace Process between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) (2010-2021),"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 31:
No.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol31/iss1/4
