Weapons of the weakened, but not wiped out
Insurgent adaptability through life histories
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24225204 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eduardo Álvarez-Vanegas (0009-0000-0606-381X, Université de Montréal) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 153-165 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-23 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Peace Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jopres/xjaf025 |
| OpenAlex | W7133334750 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
How did the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) survive the Colombian state counterinsurgency campaign? This article introduces the concept of counterinsurgency at work as a dynamic that captures the interaction between the practices of the adaptation strategies deployed by the FARC-EP, specifically increased mobility and quarantine, and the Colombian state counterinsurgency efforts from the late 1990s to the 2010s. I argue that the FARC-EP deployed adaptation strategies in response to a modernized Colombian military apparatus by repurposing and incorporating new roles, practices, and rules, which nonetheless had multiple, contradictory effects on this group's inner workings. Evidence from life histories with former FARC-EP combatants and retired personnel from the Colombian armed forces demonstrates this interplay. Life histories with ex-combatants shed light on how increased mobility and quarantine played out in the everyday with contradictory effects. For instance, while both created bonding and readiness, they disrupted socialization institutions and fractured ties with the local population. Retired military personnel's life histories show the different counterinsurgency strategies the Colombian state simultaneously deployed against the FARC-EP, prompting its adaptation capabilities. This article contributes to ongoing discussions on the transformations of armed organizations during the war. It also advances insurgent adaptability scholarship by examining the life histories of participants from both sides of the Colombian armed conflict.
Colombian armed conflict · Counterinsurgency · ex-combatants · FARC · life history (social science method) · military modernization · Quarantine · Socialization · Conflict, Peace, and Violence in Colombia · Military History and Strategy · Political Conflict and Governance
Rebelocracy
Mobilizing without the Masses
Why Rebels Stop Fighting
Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark
Does Decapitation Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Targeting in Counterinsurgency Campaigns
Colombian Military Thinking and the Fight against the Farc-EP Insurgency, 2002–2014
The logic of violence in civil war
Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Bridging Micro and Macro Approaches on Civil Wars and Political Violence
One for All? State Violence and Insurgent Cohesion
Militant and Rebel Organization(s)
The Social Processes of Civil War
Civil war as a social process
The Farc's militaristic blueprint
Socialization and violence
| Highly cited | No |
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