CIVILIAN AGENCY in CONTEXTS of ORGANIZED CRIMINAL VIOLENCE the Case of the Bandas Criminales in Colombia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CIVILIAN AGENCY IN CONTEXTS OF ORGANIZED CRIMINAL VIOLENCE The case of the bandas criminales in Colombia PAULINE BLÖTH Master's Thesis Spring 2019 Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University Supervisor: Corinne Bara Word count: 21,839 words Pauline Blöth - Civilian Agency in Contexts of Organized Criminal Violence - Thesis ii ABSTRACT While research increasingly recognizes the importance of civilian agency and strategies in influencing conflict dynamics and reducing civilian victimization in the context of armed conflict, research has until now not investigated whether civilians also have the capacity to limit organized criminal violence. This study thus aims to answer under which conditions civilians can protect themselves from and influence levels of organized criminal violence and draws on the literatures on civilian self-protection and autonomy strategies in the context of armed conflict, as well as on organized criminal governance and violence. I argue that civilian communities with high levels of social organization will experience lower levels of violence, as they are more likely to mount successful collective strategies that influence costs and benefits for organized crime groups to use violence. Using the method of structured focused comparison, this hypothesis is tested on the Colombian municipalities San Juan de Arama, Vistahermosa and Granada. The results show some support for the theorized relationship. In general, municipalities with higher levels of social organization experienced lower levels of organized criminal violence, but this relationship appears to be moderated by levels of civil war violence. Due to the explorative character of this study, more research is warranted. Pauline Blöth - Civilian Agency in Contexts of Organized Criminal Violence - Thesis iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis project would not have been possible without the support of a number of people to whom I am deeply grateful. First of all, I would like to thank Corinne for being an amazing supervisor, providing me with advice and motivation, and helping me to keep my perfectionism under control. I would also like to thank the team of the Barometer Project of the Kroc Institute who have allowed me to delve deeper into the Colombian peace process during my internship, and the many wonderful and engaged people I met in this fascinating country, who have inspired and motivated me in this research project. I am also grateful to Oliver Kaplan (University of Denver) for kindly sharing data from his own research with me, as well as to Carolina Hidalgo (Barometer Project), Father Henry Ramirez Soler (CMF Corporación Claretiana Norman Perez Bello), as well as Juan Diego and Alessandro for their willingness to help me in my hunt for data. I would also like to thank the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and its faculty and staff, as well as my fellow students, for helping me to grow both as an academic and as a person. Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my family and friends who support me and without whom none of this would have been possible. Pauline Blöth - Civilian Agency in Contexts of Organized Criminal Violence - Thesis iv TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES, GRAPHS, AND TABLES .............................................................................. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................ vii INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND RESEARCH GAP .............................................................. 2 The logic of one-sided violence ........................................................................................................ 3 Civilian agency and self-protection strategies .................................................................................. 5 Civilian autonomy and resistance ...................................................................................................... 6 Criminal governance and organized criminal violence .................................................................... 9 Research gap ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Purpose of this study........................................................................................................................ 12 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .........................................................................................13 Civilian strategies and social organization ...................................................................................... 13 Organized criminal groups and criminal violence ......................................................................... 15 Social organization and criminal violence ...................................................................................... 16 Key concepts..................................................................................................................................... 17 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................18 Method .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Case selection .................................................................................................................................... 18 Country selection ................................................................................................................... 18 Time period............................................................................................................................ 19 Case selection criteria ............................................................................................................ 19 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 22 Data sources...................................................................................................................................... 23 Guiding questions for analysis ........................................................................................................ 23 COUNTRY AND REGIONAL CONTEXT ....................................................................... 25 Colombia and its history of violence .............................................................................................. 25 The context of armed and organized criminal violence in Meta .................................................. 26 ANALYSIS............................................................................................................................... 28 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 28 General demographic information .................................................................................................. 28 Social organization ........................................................................................................................... 29 Pauline Blöth - Civilian Agency in Contexts of Organized Criminal Violence - Thesis v Levels of violence ............................................................................................................................. 30 San Juan de Arama ................................................................................................................ 30 Vistahermosa ......................................................................................................................... 34 Granada .................................................................................................................................. 38 Evaluating the hypothesis ..................................................................................................... 40 Interactions between civilians and armed actors and their cost-benefit implications ................ 41 Considering other influences ........................................................................................................... 42 Civil war violence .................................................................................................................. 42 Strategic importance .............................................................................................................. 45 Contestation ........................................................................................................................... 47 State capacity.......................................................................................................................... 48 Socioeconomic factors .......................................................................................................... 50 Discussion: Explaining patterns of violence in Meta .................................................................... 52 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................