Memory is the strength of our resistance

An 'other politics' through embodied and material commemoration in the San José Peace Community, Colombia

Bibliographic Data

ID5087875
AuthorsChristopher Courtheyn (0000-0002-5955-8813, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author), Chris Courtheyn
Year2016
Volume17
Issue7
Pages933-958
Publication date2016-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2016.1139172
OpenAlexW2253080027
LanguageEN
Citations received32
References cited72

Scholars have shown how memory is an embodied and spatial practice that potentially generates more just possible futures, and that peace is a politicized and contextually specific process, but how does place-based memory performance actually contribute to social movements' construction of peace? This article explores massacre commemoration pilgrimages and stones painted with victims' names in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, a group of small-scale farmers living in the war-torn region of Urabá, Colombia. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research in Colombia from 2011 to 2014, including participant observation and 49 interviews, I explore the relationship between these spatially embodied practices and the community's resistance to forced displacement and peace-building project. I argue that these forms of memorialization cultivate key elements for an autonomist 'other politics', including solidarity with allies; mobilizing bodies across space to defend life and land; and ongoing reflection, education and strategic planning that strengthen community cohesion and organization. Integrating scholarship on memory performance, peace geographies, and social movements, I illustrate how the San José de Apartadó Peace Community's massacre commemorations and stones reject vindictive violence and instead build an alternative, transformative and emancipatory politics through internal and external solidarity

Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy

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