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Paper short abstract

Why do unarmed, Indigenous and Black communities secure land redistribution during civil war? I argue that, amid peace negotiations, non-violent civilians reconfigure land ownership by combining mobilization strength with political incorporation. I conduct a case study of 1991-2002 Colombia.

Paper long abstract

Why do unarmed, Indigenous and Black communities secure land redistribution during civil war? I argue that, amid peace negotiations, non-violent civilians reconfigure land ownership by combining mobilization strength with political incorporation. Facing a political opening, rural movements grow in mobilization capacity and gain recognition as legitimate actors with new rights and state access. Mobilizing on the ground, rural movements activate land claims, while they shape policymaking from within state institutions after political incorporation. I test this argument through the case of Colombia between 1991 and 2002—a least likely case—using a mixed-methods design integrating process tracing with regression models. I show that Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities secured collective property rights in municipalities where they mobilized more, while their leaders influenced land policy by occupying national bureaucratic posts. My findings underscore how marginalized actors extend political incorporation into economic redistribution, advancing scholarship on ethnic politics, civil war, and inequality.