Paper short abstract:

In Colombia, rural communities producing illegal drug crops have developed (in)formal institutions for conflict resolution amid complex interactions with guerrillas. This study unpacks their innerworkings and the role of civilians beyond a narrative of coercion, through on-site fieldwork.

Paper long abstract:

Communities producing illegal drug crops (IDC) endure life at the margins of legality, permeating many social aspects of everyday life. In Colombia, rural coca-growing communities are excluded of the state’s justice system through lack of accessible services and by the illegal nature of their economic activities. Yet, in the midst of complex interactions with armed actors, they have developed mechanisms to resolve civil and criminal matters autonomously. The growing literature on wartime governance has explored how armed actors perform state-like responsibilities and emphasizes the importance of conflict resolution institutions in establishing authority. However, it falls short in unpacking the innerworkings of institutions and the role of civilians beyond a narrative of coercion. This article fills this gap, focusing on understudied peasant Latin American communities in the informal conflict resolution literature. I conducted 9 months of fieldwork in Caquetá and the south of Tolima, two regions producing or having produced coca or poppy. Through key informant interviews, participant observation, and a participatory workshop in three communities, I explored how conflict resolution has evolved in the context of the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the FARC – the 50-year-old guerrilla group. I argue that the hybrid nature of conflict resolution institutions in these rural areas enables agency practice at the margins, even amid armed actors' presence. I found that despite being crafted with the FARC, these institutions persist after their disarmament.