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What Explains the Reduction of Urban Violence in Medellín, Colombia?

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What Explains the Reduction of Urban Violence in Medellín, Colombia? What explains the reduction of urban violence in Medellín, Colombia? Caroline Doyle A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Business January 2017 Acknowledgements This thesis is the result of a challenging, rewarding and inspiring journey. I owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who have made that journey a life-changing experience. First, I am immensely grateful to my supervisors, Professor Mark Turner and Assistant Professor Anthea McCarthy-Jones. They have played a supportive and inspirational role to this project and it is their scrutiny and inquisitive nature which have helped to shape this thesis. I am also grateful to the support of Professor Michael O’Donnell in the second part of this journey. Second, thanks to my parents for their practical, emotional and monetary support throughout this journey. My parents have been an irreplaceable source of support and inspiration throughout my academic journey. Third, I am extremely grateful to the all the paisas I encountered in Medellín who gave their time to speak to me about violence in the city and its reduction. Given the nature of the research, I have decided not to name some of the contacts who assisted me during my time in Medellín. But, I am grateful to all, especially my initial contacts in the city who provided me with accommodation, helped me to establish contacts in the city and for the use of their finca when I needed a quiet space to do some writing. Thank you to my paisa housemate for welcoming me, helping me with my paisa avanzada and for answering my many questions about Medellín. Lastly, I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Universidad de Antioquia and the Universidad EAFIT who provided me with timely advice, encouragement, support and inspiration both during and after fieldwork. The lessons I learnt through these colleagues deeply impacted on this project and made it such an enriching experience. Finally, thanks to my colleagues at the University of Canberra and University of New South Wales who have provided me with much needed emotional and practical support throughout my doctoral studies. ii List of Publications Arising From This Thesis Referred Journal Articles Doyle, C. 2016. Explaining patterns of urban violence in Medellín, Colombia. Laws, 5(3). Refereed Conference Paper Doyle, C. 2015. Public policy or public action? Explaining declining patterns of urban violence in Medellín, Colombia. Paper presented at Australian Political Science Association Conference 2015, University of Canberra 28-30 September. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... ii List of Publications Arising From This Thesis ........................................................................ iii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... vii Glossary of Key Spanish Terms ................................................................................................ x List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter One: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Medellín, Colombia as Case Study ........................................................................................ 3 Aims of Research ................................................................................................................... 4 Research Questions ................................................................................................................ 5 Importance of this Research ................................................................................................... 5 Fieldwork in Medellín, Colombia .......................................................................................... 6 Structure of the Research ....................................................................................................... 7 Chapter Two: Literature Review ............................................................................................. 10 Urban Violence .................................................................................................................... 10 Emergence of Violence in Urban Environments.................................................................. 13 The grievance perspective and greed hypothesis ............................................................. 13 Structural violence ............................................................................................................ 15 Different Causes or Circumstances to Explain the Emergence of Urban Violence ............. 16 Population increase and density ....................................................................................... 16 Weak or ineffective state institutions ............................................................................... 18 Inequality and poverty ...................................................................................................... 19 Perpetrators of Violence in Urban Environments ................................................................ 21 Use of violence ................................................................................................................. 25 Challenges to the state and ungoverned spaces ................................................................ 26 Approaches to Reduce and Prevent Violence in Urban Environments ................................ 28 Social disorganisation ....................................................................................................... 30 Broken windows ............................................................................................................... 31 Social capital ..................................................................................................................... 33 Context-specific approaches ............................................................................................. 35 Towards an Analytical Framework ...................................................................................... 36 Chapter Three: Methodology ................................................................................................... 38 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 38 Case Study ............................................................................................................................ 38 iv Selection and Justification of Case Study ............................................................................ 39 Measuring Levels of Violence in Urban Environments ....................................................... 40 Fieldwork in Medellín .......................................................................................................... 41 Semi-structured interviews ............................................................................................... 42 Participant observation ..................................................................................................... 44 Document collection and analysis .................................................................................... 48 Researching Violence and Conflict ...................................................................................... 48 Triangulation of Data ........................................................................................................... 51 Chapter Four: The Emergence of Urban Violence in Medellín ............................................... 53 The Most Progressive City in Colombia .............................................................................. 53 Growing Inequalities in Medellín ........................................................................................ 58 The Growth of Narco-Trafficking ........................................................................................ 60 Pablo Escobar: Antioquia’s Robin Hood ............................................................................. 63 Escobar: Plata o Plomo? ....................................................................................................... 66 The Rise of the Militia ......................................................................................................... 70 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 74 Chapter Five: The 1990s: Medellín, ‘the Most Dangerous City in the World’ ....................... 76 Medellín: The Battleground of the Medellín Cartel ............................................................. 76 ‘The Most Dangerous City in the World’ ............................................................................ 79 The Presidential Council: A Strategy to Address the Violence ........................................... 81 The Militia: Semi-criminal and Semi-legal Organisations .................................................. 87 Peaceful Co-existence Pacts with the Bandas ...................................................................... 91 The Paramilitaries Enter Medellín ....................................................................................... 95 Conclusion
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