Paper short abstract:

This paper approaches the paramilitary groups in Medellín, Colombia, ethnographically. What are the believes the rank and file are risking their lives for? Why did they join the group, stay with it and finally demobilize voluntarily?

Paper long abstract:

The right-wing political project of the paramilitary forces in Colombia has received much attention because of the recent peace-process with the Colombian State. This process has been criticized by civil society organizations as well as political analysts on the grounds that the paramilitary groups had no political project, and had no visions of/for society and therefore were no legitimate partner for peace negotiations.

This paper approaches the paramilitary groups in Medellín, Colombia, ethnographically. What are the believes the rank and file are risking their lives for? Why did they join the group, stay with it and finally demobilize voluntarily? Are the reason merely economical in nature, as theories of entrepreneurs of wars would have it? Is the ideological discourse purely rhetorical? What about the visions for Colombian society, for themselves? What is their concrete relationship with the civilian population?