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

Maher, DJ; Thomson, A

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