Talking about Peace The Role of Language in the Resolution of the Conflict in Colombia Maja Lie Opdahl Master Thesis Department of Political Science UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2018 Word count: 55.040 II "Discourses are the product of power by which hegemonic interpretations are seemingly naturalized and internalized, but also resisted and contested, within the social realm" (Dunn and Neumann, 2016, p.13). III ã Opdahl 2018 Talking about Peace: The Role of Language in the Resolution of the Conflict in Colombia Maja Lie Opdahl http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Grafisk Senter IV V Abstract How was it possible that Colombian politicians found a solution to the conflict in 2016, but which nevertheless was rejected by the people? In this thesis, I analyse the process which ended in a historical peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – The People’s Army (FARC-EP) in 2016. The ambition is to understand how the national government has moved discursively from fighting a war on ‘terrorism’ to promoting a political solution to an ‘internal armed conflict’. Theoretically, the thesis draws on poststructuralist discourse analysis to uncover how different constructions of identity (Self/Other) has translated into different national frameworks for peace. The basic premise is that actors interpret the world through language, and that language simultaneously creates, transforms and reproduces versions of the world. Discourses can be seen as structures of meaning that inform how we understand materiality and in simple terms, allow us to make sense of the world. In the extension, discourses produce a bandwidth of possible action and thought that we deem natural or unnatural, legitimate or illegitimate upon the confrontation of a problem. In the thesis, I use discourse analysis to uncover how the Colombian government has defined and portrayed the FARC in the conflict from 2002-2016. The data material constitutes official text, such as speeches, policy programs and official declarations, primarily delimited to the words of the presidents. The empirical analysis shows how military violence was accepted as a natural response to an enemy constructed as a radically different Other under the government of Álvaro Uribe. Further, it demonstrates how a transformation in the representation of the Self coincided with the decrease in ‘otherness’ attached to the FARC. Where the former representation presented the negotiation with terrorists as impossible, transformation has been crucial for the successful initiation of the peace negotiations that were concluded by the Santos administration, 52 years after the conflict broke out. The analysis also demonstrates how some representations persist, how actors manoeuvre within the discourse and have created discursive instability as to what is considered the ‘rightful’ solution to the conflict. This has left the country in a challenging transitional period. VI VII Acknowledgements Writing this thesis, I have learnt that it is not always so obvious where to look or what to look for. In the following, many people have shared their time and thoughts with me. First, a warm thanks to my two supervisors, Øivind Bratberg and Benedicte Bull for good discussions, feedback and support along the way. Second, I extend my gratitude to friends and contacts that supported me with information during my research trip to Bogotá. To my interviewees, who responded on short notice, and played an important role for my understanding of the context and the empirical material: Nubia Rojas, Andrei Gomez-Suarez, Johanna Amaya Panche, Maria Emma Wills Obregon, Juan Esteban Ugarriza Uribe, and two whom remain anonymised. Also, a warm thanks to Ana Isabel Rodríguez Iglesias and Diego Marin Rios for helpful discussions and information sharing. Thanks, not least, to the Fritt Ord Foundation, who granted me with financial support, enabling the fieldwork. To the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), who provided a stimulating place to write my thesis. Thanks to all my colleagues and research group members for comments, suggestions and motivation. Equally, but not least to Kristin M. Haugevik, Halvard Leira and Morten S. Andersen for reading and bearing with me throughout my somewhat messy draft chapters. To my friend, Kaja Elisabeth, for dedicated proofreading. To friends, family and my favourite person, Eirik, to whom I owe a lot. Oslo, May 2018 Maja Lie Opdahl VIII IX Abbreviations AUC Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia [the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia] BACRIM Bandas Criminales [Criminal gangs] CDA Critical discourse analysis CMH Centro de Memoria Histórica (Centre of Historical Memory) CIVETS Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa DAS Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad [the Administrative Department of Security, DEA] DSP Democratic Security Policy and Defence policy [Política de Defensa y Seguridad Democrática] ELN Ejército de Liberación Nacional [the National Liberation Army] EPL Ejercito Popular de Liberación [the Popular Liberation Army] FARC Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo [the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army] GAML Grupos Armados al Margen de la Ley [Armed Groups at the Margin of the Law] GoC The Government of Colombia GWOT Global War on Terror ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IR International Relations IOM International Organization for Migrations M-19 Movimiento 19 de Abril [The 19th of April Movement] NOREF Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre PDSD Política de Defensa y Seguridad Democrática [Democratic Security and Defense Policy] UNDCP United Nations International Drug Control Programme UP Unión Patriótica [Patriotic Union] X Table of contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research question and objective ............................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Analytical approach and contribution ................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 The structure of the thesis ............................................................................................................................................................ 9 2 Discourse analysis: A theoretical framework ....................................................................................... 11 2.1 A poststructuralist reading of politics ................................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Constructing the FARC as the Other ..................................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Discourse, agency and policy formulation ........................................................................................................................ 20 3 Methodology and research design ........................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Data and delimitation ................................................................................................................................................................. 27 3.2 Identifying and mapping representations of the Self and the Other ................................................................... 31 3.3 Research objectives ....................................................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1 The ‘problem’ of causality ........................................................................................................................... 36 4 Background to the conflict ......................................................................................................................... 38 4.1 The Violence and the National Front ................................................................................................................................... 38 4.2 The evolution of the FARC.......................................................................................................................................................... 40 4.3 State building and the liberal/conservative divide ...................................................................................................... 41 4.4 Earlier attempts to negotiate peace..................................................................................................................................... 43 4.5 A humanitarian crisis................................................................................................................................................................... 45 5 Empirical analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 47 5.1 Restarting from zero: The emergence of ‘Uribismo’..................................................................................................... 49 5.2 Order and authority: Re-constructing the Self ................................................................................................................ 52 5.3 War on terror: the construction