Origins of Community Resistance to Illicit Crops: Evidence from an Afro-Colombian Community Council in the South of Buenaventura

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.9148

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Published: Jul 27, 2020
Updated: 2020-07-27
Versions:
2020-07-27 (2)
Issue: Vol. 22 No. 2 (2020)
Section Economías ilícitas y movilización social


Keywords: Illicit economies community resistance community leadership governance afro-colombians

Main Article Content

Authors

Iván Lobo
Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
María Alejandra Vélez
Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Álvaro Arroyo

Abstract

In this article, we explore the mechanisms on which the capacity of communities to
resist the influence of illicit crops is based or the conditions that explain higher ‘stock’
of social capital in one Afro-Colombian Community Council in the south of the municipality
of Buenaventura, Colombia. This council has a history of community resistance
to illicit economies and has been particularly effective in halting the expansion of
coca crops and illegal mining in its territory. Drawing upon data and results from our
previous studies and additional inputs from one of the authors, a leader of the council
himself, we followed a qualitative method based on thematic analysis to understand the
conditions that explain effective community resistance. We identified three conditions:
functional complementarity among grassroots organizations, the exercise of distributed
(or collective) leadership, and the influence of foundational leaders. These conditions
are not easily transferable. Therefore, the possibility of replicating community resistance
in other contexts is limited. The analysis, however, provides insights that may be useful
for communities in similar contexts.

How to Cite
Lobo, I., Vélez, M. A., & Arroyo, Álvaro. (2020). Origins of Community Resistance to Illicit Crops: Evidence from an Afro-Colombian Community Council in the South of Buenaventura. Estudios Socio-Jurídicos, 22(2), 1–42. https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.9148 (Original work published July 2, 2020)
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