Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

The terror that underpins the ‘peace’: The political economy of Colombia’s paramilitary demobilisation process

Maher, DJ; Thomson, A

The terror that underpins the ‘peace’: The political economy of Colombia’s paramilitary demobilisation process Thumbnail


Authors

A Thomson



Abstract

Studies on terrorism have traditionally focused on non-state actors who direct violence against liberal states. Such studies have also tended to focus on political motivations and, therefore, have neglected the economic functions of terrorism. This article challenges the divorce of the political and economic spheres by highlighting how states can use terrorism to realise interconnected political and economic goals. To demonstrate this, we take the case of the paramilitary demobilisation process in Colombia and show how it relates to the US-Colombian free trade agreement (FTA). We argue that the demobilisation process fulfils a dual role. Firstly, the process aims to improve the image of the Colombian government required to pass the controversial FTA through US Congress in order to protect large amounts of US investment in the country. Secondly, the demobilisation process serves to mask clear continuities in paramilitary terror which serve mutually supportive political and economic functions for US investment in Colombia.

Citation

Maher, D., & Thomson, A. (2011). The terror that underpins the ‘peace’: The political economy of Colombia’s paramilitary demobilisation process. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 4(1), 95-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2011.553391

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 8, 2011
Deposit Date Aug 15, 2014
Publicly Available Date Apr 5, 2016
Journal Critical Studies on Terrorism
Print ISSN 1753-9153
Electronic ISSN 1753-9161
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 4
Issue 1
Pages 95-113
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2011.553391
Keywords Colombia; free trade agreement (FTA); paramilitary demobilisation; foreign direct investment; terrorism; neoliberalism
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2011.553391
Related Public URLs http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rter20/current

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations