Democracy implies necessarily conflict. The Colombian conflict is a case of a differend, [différend] a dispute, a conflict between positions in which any consensus betrays the original claims of, at least, one of the parties. The inequality and distortion that the rebellion exposes cannot be resolved by an agreement between the opposed parties. A secularized version of the sacrament of “forgiveness and reconciliation” is now presented as a political virtue. However, the projection of the differend in consensus and reconciliation will always be deceptive and deceitful. The political space of democracy must resist a narrative of reconciliation. The text discusses, in the contemporary Colombian context, the concepts of “ a “democracy”, reconciliation” and differend, criticizes the unity of notions such as “people” and “nation, and problematizes the supposed dichotomy between “war” and “peace”.
The Colombian civil war has entered a critical phase which makes it a duty, a responsibility as well as an obligation to reflect upon it. Now that the insurgency and the government in Havana discuss the possibility of peace, it is this intellectual responsibility that leads us to formulate some questions to elucidate the implications, meanings and consequences of so-called "peace". What do the two sides refer to when they speak of "peace"? What is "peace"? How can we understand the complex relationship between war and peace?
In the urban regions of Guayaquil and Cartagena, strongly marked by the presence of slavery, the "castas", slaves and freedmen (whether coloured or not), compose the essential of the "plebs" who keep worrying the "decent people". After the Independence, the term "people" imposes itself, with a certain ambiguity. If, on one side, it is exalted as the "sovereign people" in the elites' speeches, on the other side, its manifestations of resistance and revolt turn these same people into the heirs of ancient "plebs".
El texto aborda la retórica y los conceptos claves en los discursos del Presidente Juan Manuel Santos y del Comandante Rodrigo Londoño durante el acto de entrega de armas de las FARC-EP el 27 de junio 2017. En tal contexto se analizan las significaciones semióticas de las palabras “pueblo”, “nación”, “democracia”, “reconciliación”, “guerra” y “paz”. El texto critica la unicidad de nociones como “pueblo” y “nación”, cuestiona el mito de la “democracia” colombiana, discute la noción de “reconciliación” y problematiza la supuesta dicotomía entre “guerra” y “paz”.
There is a fundamental relation between Greek tragedy and public law. The storyline of Sophocles’ play King Oedipus focuses on an investigation that follows Greek judicial practices, and the tragedy becomes a tribunal that includes merciless testimonies. In another of Sophocles’ tragedies, Antigone, we find a historical-juridical discourse of power and an acute conflict between law and justice. The encounter between different arguments, the emergence of ideas and concepts, as well as the decisive political and juridical confrontations are found on the stage.
Inspirado en Antígona de Sófocles, el autor toma como base la tragedia griega para darle nuevas luces al conflicto colombiano. La idea surgió al leer la hojarasca de Garcia Márquez, ambientada en un pueblo que tiene su origen en el desplazamiento: "El rastrojo de una guerra civil que cada vez parecía mas remota e inverosímil". Antígona (el pueblo desarraigado y perseguido), se rebela contra Creonte (el tirano, la exclusión), y comienzan a moverse las fichas de un sofisticado juego político e intelectual.
Una tragedia a la colombiana es una reflexión lucida y creativa sobre la violencia en la Colombia contemporánea. Roland Anrup, historiador sueco, logra contextualizar desde la visión occidental como ha evolucionado el concepto de poder y democracia en el mundo, y en el contorno especifico de nuestro país. Un libro que reúne lo académico, lo testimonial, lo periodístico, lo filosófico, y que es también una mirada sagaz de una historia, en la cual somos testigos y protagonistas.
This article deals with a case of confrontation between the state and the autonomy of a community that resists the national state and brings forth its judicial demands before international institutions of law. This situation implies important political and judicial problems. Here we deal foremost with the problematic of conflictive relations between state sovereignty and the autonomy of the community. The latter enters into conflict with the aspiration of the state to be the sole source of political power and law. That there in fact exists different locus of power means we need to think in terms of forces in constant struggle that questions the sovereignty of the state.
The community of San José de Apartadó has been able to establish its own foundation, elect its authorities and create a system that rules communal life. The community has also developed the capacity to represent itself in both national and international contexts.
Antigoneis one of the best-known Greek tragedies that still awakens a myriad of possibilities in the transit between law and literature. This text intends to highlight the paradoxes that the character brings to the political-legal scene and its nuances, allowing a more reading in order to contribute to the debate about the concepts of diké, sovereignty, democracy and the insertion of the female figure in the scene of the western thought.
In social contexts afflicted by high intensities of conflict and violence, black communities, peasant and indigenous communities in Colombia have given different meanings to civil resistance that meet the needs of particular contexts and the different forms of violence that afflict them. The Cauca region is known for its tradition of indigenous organization and its resistance against the landlords and the state. The civil resistance of the indigenous movement exercise autonomy and includes several elements such as community and political participation, the Indigenous Guard and permanent assemblies. Due to the work of organizing the communities are able to give a response to the situation of war in the area. The Indigenous Guard is controlled by the indigenous authorities, and originated from the need to preserve the integrity and autonomy of the territory, defend the rights of indigenous peoples, and disseminate indigenous culture and law. In relation to the guerrilla movement the Association of Indigenous Communities of Northern Cauca recognizes that the guerrilla has historically been another form of resistance to the state and defender of indigenous peoples' rights and demand from the guerrilla respect for their culture, customs, lands and territories.