Securing the State and Developing Social Insecurities: the securitisation of citizenship in contemporary Colombia

Cristina Rojas

Third World Quarterly, 2009, vol. 30, issue 1, 227-245

Abstract: Citizenship is the cornerstone of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's democratic security policy. In this paper I ask what kind of citizen is formed under this policy. I examine the premises of citizenship when implemented under the double logic of democracy and security, drawing upon the thoughts of Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault. My conclusion is that in Colombia the tensions between security and democracy are resolved with a bias towards the security rather than the democracy side of the equation. The consequence is the formation of a citizen less inclined to claim his or her rights politically and more prone to ‘voluntary obedience’ in return for protection; rather than a lasting peace this engenders a continuation of the barbarisms, this time in the name of securing citizens. I point out that the answers to these contradictions are found in the resistance movements of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, peasants, peace communities and the movement of victims of all armed actors. I suggest a framework for analysis inspired by decolonial thinkers.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1080/01436590802622631

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