‘Ser Eleno’: Insurgent identity formation in the ELN

Barbara Gruber and Jan Pospisil

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2015, vol. 26, issue 2, 226-247

Abstract: In conflict studies, identity has been posited as an explanatory factor of the resilience of insurgencies. This article focuses on the identity formation of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a leftist insurgency group in Colombia. As a Marxist–Leninist organisation, the ELN aims to overcome capitalism. In their perception, this is possible via the transformation of the individual into a ‘collective personality’. Along the dimensions of ‘content’ and ‘contestation’, we will demonstrate the mechanisms they impose for such identity formation. Identity, as we will argue, is a main factor in explaining why people participate in this insurgency and thereby enhance its resilience.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2015.1007562

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