Configurations of Space. Time. and Subjectivity in A Coontext of Terror. Colombian Example

Configurations of Space, Time, and Subjectivity in a Context of Terror: The Colombian Example
Author(s): Daniel Pcaut

Source: International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 14, No. 1, Colombia: A
Nation and Its Crisis (Fall, 2000), pp. 129-150
Published by: Springer
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International
Journal
of Politics,
Culture
and Society,
Vol.
14, No.
1, 2000
of Space, Time, and Subjectivity

Configurations
Context of Terror: The Colombian Example
Daniel
in a
P?caut
violence
in Colombia
Endemic
appears ever more difficult to bring
under control. The disrepute brought upon the former presidential
adminis
tration of Ernesto
and
weakness
of
that
the
the
administration,
Samper
in
the
defeats
suffered
the
Colombian
Armed
Forces
surge
corruption,
by
at the hands of the guerrillas along with the general paralysis
that seems
to have overtaken
the military, and the expansion of drug cultivation despite
are among the factors that have contributed
to
campaigns of eradication,
the worsening
of the violence. On the other hand, the armed organizations
involved in the violence have increasingly
resorted to terror as a normal
of
their local strategies. Where
and guerrillas
ingredient
paramilitaries
has become
dispute the same territories, terror against the civil population
to isolate the enemy, cutting him off from a base of
the principal means
the scene of terror, including the
support. Entire
regions have become
de Antioquia,
Nordeste
and
Medio, Urab?
Putamayo, Meta, Magdalena
the
and
of
C?rdoba,
city
Barrancabermeja.
In recent fighting, a new and important factor has been the spread of
terror to areas that have not previously
as theaters of
been categorized
confrontation
between
the armed groups. These groups now launch opera
tions further and further from their home bases, making use of swift incur
sions or selective
In some instances,
assassinations.
the mere
spread of
rumors and threats can serve to throw a population
into disarray. Local
soon discover
inhabitants
that when armed intruders arrive, there is no
form of "protection"
they may have been offered that is of any use: there
is little the guerrillas can do against the onslaught
of the paramilitaries.
are the cities places of refuge for those who flee rural violence,
Neither
*A
version
of this article
longer Spanish
and Eduardo Dom?nguez,
eds., Democracia
Pontifica
Bolivariana,
1999).
was
as a chapter
in Alfonso
Monsalve
published
Vol. 2 (Medellin: Universidad
y paz en Colombia,
129
? 2000 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
130
P?caut
even when
themselves
armed groups have not openly established

the major contending
in the urban zones where
the refugees settle. These areas are
often divided into zones of influence and control by networks of collabora
tors who maintain
contacts with the armed organizations.
an
It would be
illusion to believe
that the terror will soon subside.
The negotiations
that began between the federal government

and the FARC
Armed Forces of Colombia)
in 1999 are likely to continue
(Revolutionary
for a long time, or on the other hand, could be broken off at any moment.
The political opening
these talks provide may actually induce the FARC,
to officially recognize
which wants the government
it as a legitimate "bellig
erent," to attempt to take even more territory under its control. The resis
tance
that the other major guerrilla group, the ELN (National Liberation
Army) has met in its efforts to become part of the talks has led it to resort
to dramatize
to mass kidnappings
its presence. The paramilitaries
who have
to force
have also attempted
been denied political status by the government
means
In
their entry into the negotiations
other
words, even
by any
possible.
one
cannot
to
if the negotiations
underestimate
the
fresh
obstacles
continue,
Even if the talks do not result in
peace that may emerge at any moment.
not
terror
will
failure,
disappear.
some of the most
The purpose of this article is to examine
important
of the current forms of terror in Colombia
characteristics
and consequences
in respect to its victims, its perpetrators,
and the political culture and social
as
a whole.
the
climate
of
country
psychological
in
violence
have tended to focus on three
Colombia
of
the
Analyses
where violence
of its aspects. The first is territorialization,
is seen as associ
areas by armed groups. Second, a
ated with control of specific geographic
as resulting
focus on strategic time sees the ebb and flow of the violence
the measures
and
taken by the government
from the interactions between
an
has
the
armed
there
been
the strategies
groups. Finally,
adopted by
leads to the construction
emphasis placed on the ways inwhich the violence
of new frameworks of subjectivity, how the existence and activities of armed
create new identities, whether
networks of protagonists
through coercion
or
choice.
the ques
These analyses have been useful, and still are. Nevertheless,
in
be
reconsidered
of
the
fact that
should
tion I raise is whether
they
light
terror has now spread to a major portion of the country. It seems to me
inhabited
that terror has progressively
spaces, blown apart
fragmented
and
weakened
the
for individuals
frames
of
reference,
possibilities
temporal
as
a range
do
amidst
to realize themselves as continuous
they
subjects, living
to
In
levels
of
contradistinction
of contradictory,
experience.
superimposed
the aforementioned
of deterritorialization,
analyses,
then,
detemporalization,
I will
the configurations
investigate
and desubjectivation
within the
Configurations
context
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
131
these formulations, we may discover an alterna

on the logic of terror in Colombia.
perspective
of terror. Through
tive, illuminating
DETERRITORIALIZATION
Traditional
Forms
of Territorialization
rooted
from social experience
of space is inseparable
perception
as
in
Fais
Borda
Orlando
The space of the peasant
in memory.
Boyac?,
than that of the colono who is today
it decades ago,1 is different
described
to
the relationship
Even in the case of the colonos,
settled in Amazonia.
to the motivations
that have led an individual to
space differs according
The
in which
try his luck in another part of the country, the degree of poverty
with
he has migrated
he is immersed, and whether
along
family or with
he has left. To an even greater degree,
of the community
other members
on the location of
of space may vary in urban areas, depending
perception
under which an inhabited zone was
the conditions
the place of residence,
In the
of the neighborhood.
and the characteristics
occupied,
originally
the
limits
of
orientation
much
often
defines
the
micro-barrio
spacial
city,
more than the city as a whole.
the social reference points of space may be convulsed
by
Although
and terror, they never completely
the intrusion of violence
disappear.
Rather,
they persist within new forms of space, imposed by the agents of
violence. With considerable
justification, a great deal of attention has been
to
of
territorial
differentiation
that have accompanied
the
processes
given
of the armed organizations.
This perspective,
the consolidation
however,
in respect to
in respect to the differences
needs to be made more precise
the actors, time periods, and means of control that have been implicated
in the armed conflict. Not every armed group has had as a primary goal
the army, which has
of a specific territory. Most notably,
the occupation
near centers
on
rare
to
itself
establish
occasions
attempted
permanently
only
of population,
has usually engaged in rapid territorial incursions that neither
to the inhabitants nor allow for the gathering of reliable
offer protection
a
terms.
strategy that has cost the military dearly in political
intelligence,
imbued with a strategic vision that was
the guerrilla group M-19,
Likewise,
did not attempt to establish networks of control over
essentially militaristic,
to operate in other departments
It
abandoned Caqueta
specific populations.
inMedellin
and organized campamentos populares
(people's encampments)
to
and Cali during the 1984 cease-fire, only then to leave their occupants
survive on their own. M-19 also involved itself with various social move
ments at different
links
times, but was careful not to establish permanent
132
P?caut
with them. It is also questionable

whether
the idea of territorialization
should be applied to the operations
of the drug traffickers. They did at
different times exercise considerable
local influence through their "connec
tions" with municipal
officials (in Cali, for instance), the operations
of their
own armed networks
was
a
case
the
for
time
with
groups organized by
(as
Gonzalo
in Putamayo
and those organized by Rodriguez
or the support given
in the Magdalena
Medio),
was
to the larger paramilitary
not
But
it
in their interest
groups.
usually
a
to permanently
defend
when they entered
specific territory?especially
into open conflict with governmental
authorities?if
to safe
they wanted
guard the pursuit of what was their primary goal, the efficient conduct of
Rodr?guez Gacha
and Pablo Escobar
Gacha
their businesses.
the other hand, guerrilla groups such as the FARC,
the ELN, and
as well as
their demobilization,
the EPL (Popular Liberation Army),
at
the
and
have
aimed
the
control
of
militias,
recently
paramilitaries
a
to
But
territories.
it
is
make
distinction
between
those
necessary
specific
On
until
more
for whom
territorial control is the very basis of their existence

and those
it is only one of several options within their overall operational
control over a barrio is the irreducible
strategies. For the urban militias,
as
an armed protagonist
to
and to secure an
prerequisite
being recognized
effective
base of power. This is not the case with the guerrillas. To be
secure zones of
in its early phases commanded
sure, the FARC
essentially
in the departments
of Tolima, Huila,
and Caqueta
settlement
by means
of what came to be known as "armed colonization."2
But guerrillas and
have many other means of exercising power. Over time, the
paramilitaries
areas of settlement
in which
the guerrilla groups have established
their
from a strategic point of view. In
presence have changed their significance
to locate in areas where serious agrarian
its first years, the FARC attempted
in order to channel
in line with
its
conflict was underway
such conflict
this period, as Alejandro
has
goals. During
political and military
Reyes3
for whom
to organize
territorial control was simply a means
specific
But
of
the
"fronts"
(mobile combat units op
multiplication
populations.
a strategy decided upon by the FARC
erating with considerable
autonomy),
and ELN at the beginning of the 1980s, worked against the previous strategy
of establishing
continuous
control over specific areas. But territorialization
pointed
out,
took on new life when the guerrillas shifted priorities to locating themselves
in areas of major primary production
and
(most notably, drug cultivation
means
secure
resources
to
sizeable
of
in
order
financial
by
petroleum)
over the population
continued
extortion
and other transactions.
Control
a position
to establish
to be important, but often as simply a means
of
strength in relation to business
territorial control has assumed
and corporations. More recently,

enterprises
another aspect, as the guerrillas have sought
Configurations
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
133
to oversee the actions of local elected officials, exercising what they call the
In the case of the paramilitaries,
of the municipalities."
"co-administration
have precluded
landowners
ties
with
close
their
any move
large
although
recourse
to the
have
made
toward solidarity with the peasants,
they
ample
territorial control.
of establishing
other methods
The methods
of territorial control vary from region to region. The
are a special
zones, which have been frequently described,
drug-cultivation
case. It is beyond dispute that for a number of years the FARC has been
able to successively
represent itself as the protector of the colonos in these
areas
and thereby justify the taxes it collects from them. In place of the
these settlements before their arrival, the guerril
anomie that characterized
local order, supported by clear rules of justice, while at the
las established
same time defending
the colonos against extortion on the part of the drug
the submission of the colonos
traffickers or the army. From this perspective,
can be justified on the basis of rational calculation.

It
numerous
came
to
colonos who
from
believe that the
plausible
in other areas, expecting
the cities or from non-agricultural
occupations
and to do so rapidly, and who do not share the
only to accumulate money
of the heroic deeds of the guerrillas in the past, are essen
mythic memory
to guerrilla
is especially
control
it is important
by this type of calculation. Nevertheless,
tially motivated
not to underestimate
and the risks of deterioration
the coercive dimensions
of the authority of the guerrillas. The huge peasant marches
orchestrated
to
the
FARC
in
1996
the
protest
government's
by
fumigation
campaigns
a manifestation
zones were undoubtedly
in the drug-cultivation
of the
effectiveness
of guerrilla control. But it is unlikely that similar events can
be organized with any frequency by the guerrillas.
on the part of the guerrillas can
The same model of territorialization
be found elsewhere,
but in attenuated
form. Where
the guerrillas control
over a population
is not related to derived individual or collective economic
it is difficult for them to obtain recognition
of their power and
benefits,
their rules, and their taxation
is correspondingly
resented. The case of
Puerto Boyac?
in this respect. At the end of the 1980s, the
is notorious
left held municipal
power and the guerrillas were firmly
revolutionary
established. But the abuses committed by one of the FARC fronts contrib
uted to the takeover of the municipality
groups. But even
by paramilitary
in Bel?n de Bajir?, a jurisdiction of the municipality
of Mutata,
long under
the control of the FARC, the colonos suffered the consequences
of coercion
as much or more
than they realized the benefits of protection.
This model of territorialization
through control exercised by a network
of partisans who rule through coercion
is, however, nothing new in Colom
bia. It has its antecedents
in earlier practices of the traditional political
in the municipality
of Trujillo4
in Valle del Cauca,
parties. For example,
134
P?caut
its legal foundation

in the 1930s, the inhabitants were continuously
to
of
the
control
the gamonales
subjected
(local political
bosses). This
control was exercised with ample doses of violence, while at the same time,
the resources to effectively negotiate with regional
it assured the gamonales
In Meta, Liberal Party leaders also relied
and even national authorities.
on former bandoleros
In Arauca,
the
(bandits) to control the population.
of
the
methods
utilized
the
traditional
clans
and
continuity
by
political
those of armed clientalism used by the guerrillas has been well documented.5
in the areas of colonization,
It is not surprising,
the
then, that especially
since
inherent in territorialization
consider
the coercion
by today's
as
the "normal" order of things.
armed groups
can be seen
territorialization
however,
through coercion
Ultimately,
as a mode of transition that inescapably
to the spacial integra
contributes
In reality, as we have seen in the case of Trujillo,
tion of the nation.
inhabitants
resources
for political
actions
that demand
the attention
of
in
The
of
installation
the
the
Amazo
authorities.
guerrillas
governmental
nian region and in some parts of Urab? has, inmany ways, lent momentum
to the formation of mediating
political mechanisms
through which contacts
have been advanced.
between
the center and the periphery
it generates
The Process
of Deterritorialization
The terror of recent years has served to undermine

the forms of territo
between armed groups for control
rialization described above. Competition
to this trend. The paramilitaries
have
of the same areas has contributed
and Urab?, while
largely expelled the guerrillas from areas such as C?rdoba
in the
and paramilitaries
continues
the confrontation
between
guerrillas
can take place almost
face-offs
Magdalena Medio and other regions. Armed
in the
and are commonplace
in the city of Barrancabermeja
anywhere
areas
like
where
urban
militias
often
of
Medellin,
metropolitan
peripheries
alternate
between
"cruces"
(collaborations)
with
the guerrillas
and
the
paramilitaries.
the replace
One might think that these developments
only represent
ment of networks of control affiliated with certain armed groups by those
linked to other groups and that, therefore, the familiar patterns of territori
in this light, however,
is to
alization continue. To view what is happening
new
circum
of
the
situation.
Under
the
features
present
ignore
unique
has risen to ascendency. This is clearly
stances, the factor of unpredictability
in the areas that are in open dispute between
evident
contending
parties.
to discern who
is in
it is not possible
For instance,
in southern Cesar,
In the urban peripheries,
it is
control, the guerrillas or the paramilitaries.
Configurations
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
135
to identify who is in charge in what areas. Juvenile gangs are

their identities, and displaced
persons cannot easily
changing
constantly
their
settlements.
forces
that
infiltrate
the
clandestine
By the same
recognize
one
or
areas
another
armed
in
the
token,
organization,
"conquistadas"
by
nothing can be taken for granted. Driven out one day by the paramilitaries,
often difficult
the guerrillas may return tomorrow. At the time of writing, guerrilla forces
were attempting
to do this even in the areas where they have suffered their
most severe setbacks, such as Urab? and C?rdoba. Everywhere,
boundaries
zones of control are becoming
ill-defined
and fluid.
between
increasingly
At the same time, the armed groups demonstrate
every day that they
can launch attacks further and further distant from their home bases, even
have
in the very heart of their adversaries
strongholds. The paramilitaries
in the "historic" domains of the guerrillas, and
increased their operations
the guerrillas have carried out attacks in areas that have been taken over
con
the classic processes of territorialization
Hence,
by the paramilitaries.
tinue
to weaken.
are fewer and fewer spaces that can now escape the influence
are often threatened
as
of the armed groups. Universities,
for example,
one
or
same
true
The
is
another group.
of those who collectively
targets by
from the scourge of conflict, such as the "communities
seek to withdraw
There
of peace" and populations

in respect to the
who declare their "neutrality"
as witnessed
of
combatants,
by the armed intrusions into the settlements
San Jos? de Apartado,
and Aguachica.
There are no more secure
Riosucio,
places of refuge, and those who flee the most
imperiled areas may well
same
of
find themselves
the
threats
the
agents of violence on their
facing
arrival
in a new
place.
we may speak of an effective homogenization

In these circumstances,
come to be oriented
around the
of space, since its points of reference
actions of the armed groups. Most importantly, space begins to "dematerial
ize." Every location is defined by its position, real or virtual, in the networks
a
of control exercised by the armed organizations.
Space, then, becomes
term
to
Mark
has
used
this
of
circula
spaces
Auge
designate
"non-place."
to refer
tion linked to "supermodernity."61
adapt it for my own purposes
to spaces that, divested of material
attributes, are defined by interactions
networks
of
coercion.
among
Even where a tangible territoriality
still exists, it is becoming
increas
have learned that there are no protections
that
ingly permeable. Residents
that their present
provide guarantees
against the invasion of their enemies,
their territory to these enemies. They
"protectors" may quickly abandon
also know that the guerrilla fighters may from time to time exchange
their
uniforms for those of the paramilitaries?a
significant portion of the para
are recruited from former guerrillas?and
a neighbor can at any
militaries
136
P?caut
an "informer,"
that shadowy figure who helps to single out
a massacre
takes place. The non-place
is the domain of gener
alized distrust. Not only is it unwise to trust in the armed group that is
currently in control, the same may be the case in respect to one's neighbors
or even members
of one's family, who at any point may become
informants
or have children in the opposite
camp.
time become
victims when
The non-place
is definitively
characterized
by its ubiquity. There is no
can
or maintained.
where
ties
be
social
constructed
private space
Everyone
knows that he is under surveillance,
perhaps by all the armed groups at
contacts with one of them, even against one's
once, and that establishing
a
turn
will
him
into
in the eyes of the others.
will,
sospechoso
(suspect)
a
to a site
to
of
aid
someone, or moving
merchandise,
Selling
providing
piece
near a particular person or group are actions that may draw condemnation.
that several persons
Evidence
has established
from the municipality
of
in Urab? were executed by the guerrillas in 1997 for having gone
Riosucio
to the market
in the town of Turbo. To dare to travel to Turbo was seen
that these persons were in complicity
by the guerrillas as sufficient evidence
who had established
in the town. At the
with the paramilitaries
themselves
same time, there is an abundance
the paramilitaries
of cases where
have
under similar circumstances.
also carried out summary executions
The
are a concrete
"lists" that the paramilitaries
post at the sites of massacres
of the ubiquity of the non-place:
there is no place to hide.
manifestation
as to how anyone's
is the uncertainty
Another
aspect of the non-place
relative position within the networks of control might be evaluated by the
are comprised
armed actors. These networks
of a number of concentric
circles of participants. Alongside
the full-time members
of the armed orga
other
nization are occasional
and
collaborators,
militias,
supporters. There
are also those who perform small favors for the group. Finally, there is the
mass of the population who are obliged to attend meetings
or to participate
or other demonstrations.
Even if the inhabitants might be able
inmarches
to negotiate
their relationship with the armed organization
that has installed
itself in their territory, the same will not be true in respect to the groups
the paramilitaries
who want to invade the same space. When
took over
in Urab?,
the guerrillas
various localities
retreated from these areas; but
and supposed collaborators
who paid the price for
it was the local militias
not just the
their retreat. The murders
of so many common participants,
in Caqueta
also demonstrate
that no
leaders, of the 1996 protest march
to partisan activity is immune from violent retaliation.
form of connection
As a final case in point, we should recall the kidnapping
by the guerrillas of
involved with soldiers
local girls and young women who were romantically
stationed nearby.
In such circumstances
of fear and terror, there
is no need
to resort
to
Configurations
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
137
to understand
theories of rational calculation
that it is in the
sophisticated
to these circumstances
interest of any individual to adapt, if at all possible,
in individualistic
in collective
action. In
terms, avoiding any involvement
zones controlled by the guerrillas, autonomous
the colonization
organiza
tions such as the juntas de colonizadores
and juntas comunales, who carry
out projects of collective
intimidated or taken over
interest, are frequently
even
to
in
the
And
such
is to run
by
guerrillas.
participate
organizations
or to be recruited
to perform other
the risk of being labeled a militant
tasks. Not surprisingly,
there are also a great many among
compromising
the forcibly displaced who do all they can tomix with the general population
to escape the label that is attached to their condition.
observations
need to be made
a
is
translation of
place. Mobility
certainly
physical
not
I have made
it
and
is
chance
that
non-place,
by
the displaced. But this point can be amplified to larger
Three
additional
the inhabitants of the regions

present conditions,
as emigrants-in-waiting.
often perceive
themselves
in respect to the non

the condition
of the
several references
to
under
considerations
dominated
violence
by
In my interviews with
in Putumayo,
the majority
of my respondents
said that
growers
come
a
some
had
for
limited
of
time
in
order to accumulate
they
period
small capital. They would not use their initial cash surpluses to improve
their housing
as only a
since they considered
their residences
situation,
In
other areas, including those where permanent
temporary stopping place.
dreamed
of leaving, giving
residents
little thought
crops were
grown,
whether
this would come about as an individual move or by being dragged
forced or voluntary. But this is not
away as part of collective displacement,
an entirely new phenomenon.
The history of Colombia
is a history of
and the memory
in the 1950s is one of massive
of La Violencia
migration,
as evidenced
answer that many
movements,
population
by the common
come
to
Colombians
"How
the
did
to
live here?" "Be
you
give
question:
cause of La Violencia."
are capable of giving a
the displaced
Certainly
detailed account of their dramatic situation, but they often seem to consider
the fact of their displacement
itself as a matter of fate.
The non-place
also results from the dislocation
of institutional
refer
ences. There
is no institutional protection
the
violence.
The
army
against
is viewed as one of its major protagonists,
to be feared as much or even
more
than the other combatants.
The system of justice is paralyzed
and
can be conceived
as
an
are
abstraction.
The
traditional
only
parties
falling
favorite targets of the armed actors, are cast into
apart. The local mayors,
the same situation as their constituents.
Of course, there is nothing new in
state
toward
the
in
Colombia.
It is anchored
in a long historical
skepticism
tradition that has always made highly unlikely the possibility
of the nation
as a compelling
the level
being experienced
symbolic reality. Nevertheless,
coca-leaf
138
P?caut
the state's disrepute

has never been higher than it is now, and the
in recent years has heightened
of
the sense of its
mounting
corruption
can
There
that
restrain
the
flow of violence
is, then, nothing
irresponsibility.
or that will allow individuals
to seal themselves
off from it.
of
It must not be forgotten

that the non-place
is also expanding within
a space that is larger than the national
which has
territory. Colombia,
of the world outside, has suddenly
often seemed to ignore the existence
discovered
that it is part of that world. The neoliberal
of the
opening
had
disastrous
results
for
The
trade
sustains
has
economy
agriculture.
drug
of the United
States into the internal affairs of the
the daily intervention
over
of human rights within
the country provokes
nation. The violations
and over again censure and exposure from outside its borders. Globalization
it creates
is no longer a distant reality: while the national territory unravels,
a virtual space in which rules and policies are externally
imposed. The non
the local and the global: the
place also consists in a short circuit between
global, rather than the national, generates a frame of reference, an integrat
ing perspective,
as to the meaning
of the movement
of events within
the
country.
DETEMPORALIZATION
The Multiplicity
of the Times
of the Violence
a variety of temporal
in Colombia
has set in motion
The violence
in unstable
orientations.
They juxtapose and combine with one another
in the apprehen
arrangements. As I drew attention to the social differences
it is important to empha
sion of space inmy analysis of deterritorialization,
of the peasant
of social time. The temporal orientation
size the multiplicities
who has inherited his parcel of land is not the same as that of the individual
For the latter, the realities of
who has taken up the work of colonization.
has
of time, as Alfredo Molano
risk are at the center of his perception
of the perilous
trajectories
suggested with such clarity in his descriptions
who lose track of their families then find them again, work their
to suddenly
lose it, and see their labors destroyed
by floods and
of time by youths living in the
other natural disasters. The apprehension
and varies from one period to another.
cities displays its own distinctiveness
the time orientations
Alonso
Salazar7 and Fernando Vallejo8 have described
a future,
of the young hired killers, the sicarios, a time of brevity without
of colonos
land only
and squander. This is not the

marked by a succession of acts, acquisition,
same as the time of today's juvenile gangs who, at the very least, attempt
to secure the survival of their barrios. On the other hand, the experience
Configurations
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
139
of Terror
is accompanied
of temporal referents,
of the displaced
by an alteration
issuing in a kind of waiting with no end in view. All of these temporalities
trace their influence on the violence, which does not operate
in a social
vacuum.
The various temporalities, which are by definition collective

in nature,
social action. Thus, we can discern
impose their imprints on collective
in particularly
how during their participation
striking events, such as land
invasions or protest marches, whole populations
feel as though their defin
as
on a stage. But social
a
are
out
characteristics
ing
people
being played
times also leave their imprint on particular
social actors, including armed
of the 1960s was well integrated into the space and time
the peasants. The locality or the region often constituted
its spacial
and
the
of
the
harvests
and
the
of
horizon,
lands, its
tempo
improvement
to
horizon.
The
to
deal
with
duration
without
temporal
capacity
yielding
in
is
rooted
the
of
this
On
the
impatience
fifty-year history
guerrilla group.
accounts of the histories of the ELN and
other hand, recently published
the EPL reveal how the time orientation
of these urban cadres, inspired by
was
to harmonize with peasant time.
and
difficult
political theory
ideology,
actors. The FARC
of
differences
also have their effects on strategic time, the times that
the planning of confrontation
and negotiation.
Governments
only
have four years in which to act, or even less, since they generally
lose their
accumulated
capacity for initiative within two or three years. The knowledge
is not passed on to its successor, since the spoils system
by one administration
posts, in addition to the desire of each
prevails in the filling of government
to create the appearance of initiating something new.
incoming government
The guerrillas and other armed actors do not face these limitations. Simply
to continue to exist is for them a victory. Because of this difference
in strategic
a
in
notable
orientation
both
in
time,
emerges,
asymmetry
respect to armed
and
around
the
table.
operations
negotiating
What these considerations
underscore
is the relationships
between
the
are
of
orientations
those
who
active
in
the
violence
temporal
participants
and the character of the interactions
that actually take place within
the
violence. Although
there may be disjunctions
between
these levels, they
may nevertheless
converge when the organized groups succeed in establish
the
to achieve a specific goal,
belief
that
ing
they are indeed attempting
whether
it be immediate or long-term.
These
inform
The Time
of the Event
and Mythical
Time
from the standpoint

Things appear quite differently
victims of the violence. Certainly
they too are conditioned
of those who are

by social orienta
140
P?caut
have a direction.
It
tions of time. But for them, time does not necessarily
as
a
more
to
of
be
succession
is much
simultaneously
experienced
likely
of eternal recurrence.
events and a mythical
representation
so often by the
made
"That day, they burst in." This declaration,
on
the event. The
illustrates well the emphasis placed
forcibly displaced,
and there may have
event may be expected
and feared in anticipation,
or threats, but they were seen as simply routine
been previous murders
it
occurrences
the event occurs?and
affecting other people. Nevertheless,
is always a surprise. The same thing occurs at a more general level. Every
that have taken
the newspapers
carry routine accounts of murders
massacre
an exception
a
But
of
then
the
in
of
different
country.
parts
place
or
a
takes
of
number
somewhere,
place
major public
people
ally large
or
figure, such as Jaime Pardo Leal, Carlos Pizarro, Luis Carlos Gal?n,
and irrepressible emotion explodes
is assassinated,
Alvaro G?mez Hurtado,
as if a strong tabu had suddenly been
in the press and public opinion,
day,
broken, as if the horror of it all has suddenly burst into light, and reality has
events are soon absorbed by
these exceptional
been shattered. Nevertheless,
of the routine, the one taking the place of the other. The
the reassertion
events soon fades. None of them serves to
of the extraordinary
memory
of them eventually blend with one another
all
reorient
experience,
decisively
as they accumulate.
Each one leaves only a trace, like the tail of a comet,
but that trace does not detail a history that can be expressed. The banal
of the violence
manifestations
and extraordinary
quickly confound with
In the uninterrupted
one another
in an indistinct texture of experience.
are
of the
and
erased
obliviousness
all
of
reference
events,
passage
points
ones
to
the
"Immediatism"9
determines
present.
prevails,
relationship
past
as well as stable
in a time deprived of a "horizon of expectation"
enfolded
rooted in the past.
points of reference
to
that of recurrence,
to
is a longer duration,
immediatism
Opposed
is seen as
which the new always seems to be assimilated. Today's violence
its forms of expression
that was there before,
the return of the violence
are convinced
that present
the same as they were before. Many Colombians
of those of La Violencia
than the continuation
events are nothing more
of the
but a continuation
and that those of La Violencia were themselves
a
that
Recurrence
civil wars of the nineteenth
suggests
mythic
century.
is also present as a frame of reference, within which the same
temporality
end.
itself without
and reproduces
violence has been here "forever"
is but one aspect of a larger
In fact, the mythic reality of the violence
often appears as the visible surface of a
Violence
representation.
mythical
to those
a
forces comparable
flux
of
is
that
subterranean
antagonistic
reality
and which govern the affairs of men and
that produce natural disasters
women
in spite of their efforts. It has often been noted that during the
Configurations
1950s,
of Space,
the violence
demiurge,
which,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
141
was
in the testimonies
of victims as a kind of
depicted
was
the
actual
armed
for the
actors,
beyond
responsible
or
"La Violencia"
that had caused this
that particular
It was
calamity.
or
horror
It is no different
overview
outrage.
today. Part of the mythical
to individuals of characteristics
is the attribution
that drive them to violence
in ways beyond their control. "Scientific" discourse often comes to replace
are
in this respect, as the origins of violent behavior
popular discourse
or to an elusive "culture
ascribed to the "psychology"
of the Colombian,
of intolerance."
It is as though one could not comprehend
the violence
it.
except by "naturalizing"
There are certain episodes
that simultaneously
partake
strongly of
both dramatic event and mythical
recurrence. These are events that seem
to be a decisive break in the order of things, but at the same time reveal
the essence of that which reoccurs without end. Of course, we are thinking
most notably of the 9th of April, 1948, the day of the assassination
of Jorge
Eli?cer Gait?n
and the Bogotazo,
to the majority
of Colombians,
which,
marked
the beginning of La Violencia
and, therefore, the violence of today.
If we consider this a "founding moment,"
it is one in which a catastrophe
new
to
the
formulation
of
gave
impulse
mythic awareness.
The populations
caught up in the present violence
endlessly
swing
back and forth between
the event and the myth,
the past of the present
and the present of the past. What
is denied them is the possibility of being
a
in
towards the future. In this sense, their
oriented
participants
history
to time contrasts sharply with that found in Brazil, where
relationship
uncertain present never stands in the way of the assured future.
From
the Violence
Without
History
to Its Kaleidoscopic
the
Representation
to Freud's
famous formulation,
the unconscious
has no
According
This
could
be
observation
to
the
violence.
Between
the
history.
applied
event and the myth, there is a missing
link: an instituted and institutionaliz
are fixated on catastrophes,
of Colombians
it
ing history. If the memories
is because
these events are not integrated
in a collective memory
that
confers on them a meaning
that locates them as steps toward the advent
of a more modern
society. Every national
history has had its share of
events
and episodes
that, at the time, shook the foundations
and interpretation
within society. Politicians
and
to become Hegelians
to realize that their task is
the "negative moment"
finds its
story in which
natural place in the overall narrative.
This has not happened
in Colombia.
Politicians
that the only
believe
catastrophic
of collective
orientation
historians have no need
a national
to construct
142
P?caut
over the disturbing

possible course is to throw a veil of forgetfulness
epi
sodes and to dismiss the attempts of historians
to interpret them. Hence,
remains ever with us, a terrifying curse devoted
to the endless
catastrophe
torment of future generations.
I have recalled the 9th of April, 1948, and the Bogotazo.
Its commemo
ration in 1998, on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary,
demonstrated
that
the events of that day are as if still alive. The points of view displayed
in
the same as those fifty years before, and in some cases,
the press were
a surprising adherence
to partisan views that have long since
revealed
or a resort to commonplace
ceased to have any meaning,
such
shibboleths,
as "on that day," Colombia
to
what
discovered
lengths the "barbarity"
of the ignorant masses
could extend. The 9th of April
remains among
Colombians
like an unburied corpse.
are applied even more strongly to
The same politics of obscurantism
the years of La Violencia.
In once-and-for-all
fashion, with the installation
of the National
Front, a wall of silence was erected. No attempt has been
to scrutinize
made
the actors and the interests that were
in the
involved
not to speak of installing a tribunal to judge, even symboli
conflagration,
has there been an attempt to
cally, its principal political authors. Neither
weigh the actions of the church during this period, even though its participa
tion was strategic in stabilizing
the position of the regime in power. The
on La Violencia,
a book by German
first historical
that
study
appeared
Guzman, Orlando Fais Borda, and Eduardo Uma?a Luna, was labeled as
a sacrilege. Although
on La Violencia
several valuable regional monographs
are now available,
there is still no comprehensive
historical
synthesis of
the period.
Since La Violencia
has been deprived of a history, both in the strict
and symbolic sense of the term, it nurtures a memory
that is unfettered,
because
it does not have to take into account an authoritative
narrative
of what
has actually taken place and why. Two generations

later, many
see La Violencia
as the cause of all their problems,
of their
removal to the cities, of their personal failures. Even the young
precarious
in criminal activities have no difficulty
in justifying their behavior
engaged
that was
by asserting that they are only trying to put right the humiliation
for a course of
inflicted on their forbears, to produce a different outcome
Colombians
events
that has continued

present violence
without
change.
is even more removed
than La Violencia
from
a
not
This
is
be
into
constructed
only
meaningful
history.
incorporation
cause of the lack of temporal distance:
it also has to do with the fact that
in time. It is not surprising
that so many
it has no discernible
beginning
causes
to
La
to
The
link
its
the
of
Violencia.
absence of
try
people
origins
an identifiable point of its beginning
inhibits the elaboration
of a framework
The
of Space,
Configurations
and Subjectivity
Time,
in a Context
of Terror
143
ingly affirms
that would make sense of the phenomena

of the violence.
rest:
of
these
does
the
it overwhelm
phenomena
complexity
the experience
of a temporal orientation
based only on the
succession
events.
of interpretation
The undeniable
of
At
the national
level, every important event transforms the perception

This process
is what I have elsewhere
called a kaleidoscopic
of
the
of
the
violence.
As
apprehension
configurations
major events succeed
one another?assassinations
of prominent public figures, arrests of kingpins
in the drug trade, massacres
dramatic
incursions by
by the paramilitary,
of the whole.
the guerrillas,
announcements
declarations
the
States, paramilitary
defeats,
by the United
of corruption?the
plans, revelations
public per
of the violence undergo constant metamorpho
ception of the configurations
ses. It is not only that hope gives way to disillusion
or the willingness
to
to
the hardening of positions,
the prevailing
views of the major
negotiate
factors at work in the violence also change?drug
trafficking as the major
culprit yields to an emphasis on political causes, the centrality of guerrilla
of peace
to that of the consolidation

of the paramilitaries.
Kaleidoscopic
temporality dominates popular and academic accounts of the violence alike.
The elision of memory
is inherent in kaleidoscopic
temporality. Unlike
what happened
in the current violence,
events take
during La Violencia,
place with such rapidity that they are soon forgotten. A spectacular assassi
nation, such as that of Luis Carlos Gal?n, fades hazily into the background.
Within
this temporal orientation,
the formation of stable public opinion
becomes
extremely problematic.
To speak of kaleidoscopic
of time is to draw attention to
configurations
the absence of any reasonably consistent framework of temporal orientation
The conception with which we began this analysis, the diversity
whatsoever.
of social times, proves to be insufficient to describe the phenomena
at hand.
Both myth and brute fact reveal to us a lack of historical awareness
that
we may call detemporalization.
expansion
DESUBJECTIVATION
I make use of the term "desubjectivation"
a
in order to establish
homology with the titles of the two previous analyses. I am aware, of course,
that it is a term whose utility may be questioned.
It is certainly possible
that an individual faced with terror may feel himself torn away from every
thing that defines who he is, deprived of the enduring traits of personality
that give him a sense of duration as a self. Nevertheless,
even under such
the individual may continue
to affirm the self by giving
circumstances,
accounts of his experiences,
a narrative identity.10 Nev
thereby maintaining
144
P?caut
I want to suggest that under terror, the succession of experiences

ertheless,
create
in this narrative identity to the point of threaten
discontinuities
may
into a collective
of
ing any possibility
integrating the individual's accounts
I will also attempt to show that under conditions
of terror, the
narrative.
norms
to contradictory
individual tends to orient himself simultaneously
he is exposed, without being able to commit to any of
to depict is the image of an individual whose subjectivity
is essentially
split. But again, it is instructive to begin at the opposite pole
to
in
that in certain cases, participation
affirm the argument
of analysis,
a
It
the
self.
in
is only
the
the violence may also be
way of constructing
self appears.
second instance that the image of the exploded
and values
to which
them. What
Iwant
The
Subject Within
the Violent
Organization
is not something
I have argued that the power of the violent networks
could view the presence
of
and that in certain areas the population
even a form of "law," instilling
the armed actors as offering them protection,
a sense of community. Coercion,
is a basis for collec
from this standpoint,
new
tive identity.
to the youth who join the
is particularly
This argument
applicable
on urban gangs as well as the guerrillas
Research
armed organizations.
are seeking a
indicate that in joining these organizations,
young people
status they cannot hope to attain in ordinary
life. The "prestige
of the
of weapons
is important,
uniform" and that associated with the possession
and its
factor is becoming
but the most essential
part of an organization
or absence of paternal
system of authority. Itmay well be that the weakness
from the
authority among these youth leads them to seek its equivalent
leaders of the organization.
major or subordinate
follow in terms of his
Moreover,
any particular path a youth might
in the organizations
involvements
that there
armed groups means
the same family, different children
are the particular affiliations very
a step towards enlisting in a more
The proliferation
of
is unpredictable.
in
is always a diversity of options. Even
may move in different directions. Neither
durable. Joining one group may only be
powerful one, and as I have noted, not a
and guerrillas have switched to the side of the paramilitaries.

itself at any
need to return to a former life may present
an obvious
limit to the age at which an individual can join
such limitations exist among the guerrillas
and undoubtedly
we know little about the mechanisms
also. Unfortunately,
and paramilitaries
from
the armed organizations.
their
exit
which
individuals
effect
by
to an armed organiza
that affiliation
It must be pointed out, however,
few militiamen
the
Moreover,
is
time. There
an urban gang,
of Space,
Configurations
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
145
the stability and continuity of personal identity.

tion is far from guaranteeing
to those
is particularly
the case because the significance of the violence
in
it
is
defined
the
actual
associated
engage
essentially
by
practices
with it. The time has long passed when ideology was of major importance,
and today even the guerrillas
spend little time in ideological work other
to give young recruits a few slogans, which often became
than that necessary
This
who
the sum
In my interviews with young

their political
formation.
EPL
in
the
from
discovered
1992,1
that, in telling their
people
to
referred
stories, they rarely
hero,
any Utopian construct, revolutionary
or particular episode of Colombian
history. Their focus was on the engage
ments
those they considered
in, or more precisely,
they had participated
to have been of particular significance. But even the horrific forms of these
total of
demobilized
acts of extortion
actions had become
routinized
for them. They described
and murder as though they were simply instances of ordinary behavior.
It
is no coincidence
that to enact their dramas of horror, these guerrillas
to resort to the practices of ritualized mutilation
found it necessary
of the
bodies of the slain that were codified by armed groups during La Violencia,
as if the past alone could provide a symbolic framework
to give meaning
to the violence. The violence has become progressively
aphasie. The formula
of the linguistic philosopher
John Austin
has been turned on its head.
Instead of "to speak is to act," it is now "to act is to speak." Action
is its
own justification; no elaborate
seems
is
needed.
It
evident
argumentation
that the ascendency
of practice over language is not the normal path by
it leads to an identity that only
personal
identity is established:
in
and
is
affirmed
the
of
action itself.
appears
pursuit
which
The Personal
Journey
As
a Story Without
History
The stories told by the victims of terror often take the form of a journey
himself in an
through space: leaving one place, the individual establishes
from there by the terror, to settle once again
other, only to be dislodged
wherever
he can. Between
each recounted
there are often gaps,
episode,
and the nature of the subject implicated within any particular episode
is
not necessarily
the same as the subject in another. At one point, he is an
individual participating
in a stable social structure; at another, he is a brave
is working
his land with little concern for what is happening
him; then he is a terrified individual trying to survive amidst the
coercive forces arrayed against him; finally, he is a "displaced"
person, one
who has control over nothing. The narration of the journey becomes
the
means
an
available
for
individual
confronted
only
constantly
by unpredict
able circumstances
and courses of events to affirm his identity.
colono
who
around
146
P?caut
Such narratives generally find no place in a larger "grand narrative"

to read the present as part of
of collective
history. Even less is it possible
a history that is unfolding. Although
the non-place
generated
by terror
as
be
shared
it
is
the
travail
of the
may
by many others,
experienced
individual. Trapped
in the midst of visible and invisible coercive networks
and immersed in an environment
of unrelieved
distrust, the individual has
no social frame of reference to assist him in incorporating
to him into a unifying group perspective.
what
is happening
are an obstacle
The very characteristics
of the violence
in Colombia
to developing
such a perspective.
The multiplicity
of manifestations
of the
the bewildering
clashes among its protagonists,
and the crisis of
violence,
the country's formal institutions are among the many factors that make
it
difficult to perceive a central axis of conflict that would make sense out of
the succession of events. To be sure, in the areas of confrontation
between
actors
to
and
the
armed
the
popu
attempt
paramilitaries
guerrillas,
polarize
lation in partisan terms. But the inhabitants of these areas pay little attention
as "caught in the crossfire" and think
to these efforts. They see themselves
only of how to escape the situation. Few fully identify with one side or the
in the midst of the city as
other. If those that escape find themselves
to
with
have
contend
yet another frame of reference
displaced persons, they
a
of
coercive
constructed
by
diversity
protagonists.
The
it consists
narrative
of
a mere
structure
of the personal
sequencing
of
successive
journey
is inconclusive.
fragments
of
Often
experience.
These stories resist articulation within the framework of a global construct,

that determine
the actions of the
because
only rarely do the exigencies
the strategies of
victims of the violence coincide with those that determine
the armed actors. On the other hand, the kaleidoscopic
discontinuities
of any
of the violence
the plausibility
among the configurations
challenge
global narrative that might be applied to it. Both the structural limitations
of the personal narratives of those caught up in the violence and the inability
to incorporate
narrative make
it extremely
these stories into a collective
identities within
for individuals to consolidate
personal
aries of terror: identity is at the mercy of circumstances.
difficult
The Contradictory
Orientations
the bound
of the Subject
The difficulty that the individual has inweaving his discrete experiences
together in a single fabric of subjectivity reveals itself in another way. When
and attempts to justify his actions
he assumes an attitude of self-reflection
or the actions of those caught up in similar circumstances,
he simultaneously
as though all
most
of
standards
the
contradictory
legitimation,
employs
Configurations
of Space,
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
147
in my interviews with the

equally valid. This was amply illustrated
in
Medellin.
allusions to
and
members
of
gangs
youth
Nostalgic
displaced
for those
the "morality of earlier times" were combined with admiration
were
who, like the drug traffickers, "have been successful in life." The condemna
tion of the injustice of existing laws, seen as constructed
for the
essentially
in
hand
with
the
demand
for
the
rule
of
hand
law.
goes
powerful,
Contempt
is combined with admiration of those politicians who have "done
for
the people." Rank conformism
in respect to institutions such
something
as the church accompanies
the total rejection of authority. The call for
of "every man
solidarity with one's peers coexists with the proclamation
to honesty and hard work does not
for himself." The claim of commitment
exclude praise of being sharp, of being able to profit from one's
little
for politics
"rebusque"
These
(hustling, scrabbling, racket).

to the
are, however, only contradictory
juxtaposed
legitimations
outside observer. They are deeply compatible
from the point of view of
or in turn, their
those who enunciate
them, as though, simultaneously
nature
is
the
of
the
distinctive
proclamation
required by
problems
they
face. In a recent work, sociologist
Francisco Guti?rrez
San?n11 describes
well how a "gregarious morality"
to share what
based on the imperative
one has with others does not prevent the constant breaking of the rules of
the community.
can take this argument
a step further: the most
We
appallingly
are by no means
brutal actions
necessarily
perceived
by those who
in them as contradictory
to everyday morality. The young people
engage
who describe
such actions do not seem to consider
them as a threat to
the foundations
of social solidarity. They do not even refer to codes of
to justify their behavior.
honor
such
They often assert that, although
are certainly
actions
from
the
of
the
formal
punishable
standpoint
institutions
of justice, this is not necessarily
the case from the point of
view of a "higher"
Salazar
justice. In his study of the sicarios, Alonso
has shown
that when
commit
their
have
assured
crimes,
they
they
themselves
beforehand
that they have the forgiveness
of their mothers
and the Virgin. When
the EPL combatants
turned in their arms, many
of them had no compunction
in reciting the horrors
in which
they had
been
involved. Different
to
moralities
different
levels of
correspond
one might find himself
at any moment,
behavior:
thrust from one level
to another. The violence
is certainly
rationalized
and instrumentalized,
but it is also a world of excess that questions
the meaning
of life. Its
rituals
resemble
those of intoxication,
which
is part of ordinary
life, but
creates situations where one is not oneself?and
therefore,
may,
for which one cannot be held responsible.
The world
engage in behavior
of extreme
violence
is seen both as anchored
in ordinary
life and
which
148
P?caut
that call for norms of behavior

that are
standards
of
beyond
ordinary
judgement.
in the strict sense, this might occur at
Perhaps,
"Desubjectivation?"
extreme moments
in the first person
when the subject does not experience
to him. But the phenomena
discussed
what he is doing or what is happening
as split subjectivity. The division that
here are more accurately described
or
occurs in the subject torn between
frames of reference
contradictory
on
one
another
is
levels of life experience
hardly surprising.
superimposed
characterized
by
conditions
values and
and the shattering of temporal orientations,

deterritorialization
Alongside
of terror, one that reveals itself in the narratives
this is another manifestation
of the displaced when they recall that moment when they realized that they
to the circumstances
of adapting
of which
had no possibility
they have
in
accounts.
voiced
their
become
the "toy," to use an expression
commonly
CONCLUSION
to describe and analyze the
this article, I have attempted
Throughout
in Colombia.
These forms are simultaneously
forms taken by the violence
exist at both
and subjective. Even territory and the "non-place"
objective
the boundaries
of present-day
levels. They delineate
life; but these bound
aries are highly immaterial, especially when they are defined by the conflu
ence
of
threats.
Time
does
not
cease
being
anchored
in social
experience,
as it fragments at the level of actual events or assumes

the essence
at
to
the
in respect
the subject,
individual
least maintains
of myth. And
even when
to
narrate
to
his
be able
sufficient continuity of self
experiences,
and
social
the
of
confronted
contradictory
multiple
superimposition
by
a
terror
In
the
frames of reference.
synthesis of
implies
peculiar
reality,
on
evaluated
situation
is
the basis
the
and
the objective
subjective. Every
event
"to
all
of "what might happen,"
seems, despite
every
appearances,
have been foretold," every locality is destined to perish. Hence,
representa
In this sense, itmight be argued that terror
the "life world."
tions permeate
even
also creates a world of imagination.

terror de
In fact, however?and
this is of utmost
importance?the
mean
we
to
term
refer to
the
if
stroys all imaginaries,
by this
capacity
secure
a
the
of
of
of
that would
phenomena
unity
perception
something
as
a
of
discernible
axis
that this unity could be grasped
the violence,
conflict,
an order of things, or simply a reality that has meaning.
a revolution,
The
as an entanglement
of events, of prosaic short-term
is experienced
nor the
as
a
the protagonists
calculations,
parade of sufferings. Neither
at stake
victims have principles of identity, much less Utopian commitments
even
an
terror.
This absence of
in the midst of the
imaginary determines
terror
of Space,
Configurations
Time,
and Subjectivity
in a Context
of Terror
149
to relations of force or to
the perception
of politics, which
is reduced
utilitarian
transactions. The institutionalizing
potential of the political has
in the areas of the violence.
disappeared,
especially
I have raised the question whether
it is possible that the guerrillas and
the paramilitaries might succeed in effectively polarizing Colombian
society.
There are indeed factors at work that might lead in that direction,
including
the spread of armed confrontation
and the deterioration
of the economy.
But even then, the presence of an effective
imaginary would be necessary.
assumes that the population
Polarization
is convinced
of the existence
of
a friend-enemy
division
that overdetermines
all aspects of social life. We
are far from such a situation. From this perspective,
the present violence
could not be more different
than La Violencia
of the 1950s. At that time,
the subcultures of the traditional political parties embraced the entire popu
to sustain an
lation, and it was not difficult under those circumstances
a
two
of
decisive
conflict
between
of
image
principles
political organization.
cannot appeal
Nothing of the sort exists at present. The armed protagonists
to any principles
of identification.
Those who make up the ranks of the
are no different
in this
guerrillas and those in the ranks of the paramilitaries
actors
an
The
resort
to
terror
armed
because,
respect.
exploitable
lacking
But this is a long way from
division,
they seek to create fragmentation.
in a manner
that would command
being able to justify the terror, especially
the allegiance of ordinary people. As I have pointed out, the guerrillas do
not attempt to generate collective aspirations,
not to speak of dreams of a
future.
Neither
do
the
that
groups
oppose them. The same can be
shining
said of other organized
in
the society: they have had no
political agents
success in creating an imaginary. The government
and the organizations
of "civil society" are as bereft in this respect as are the armed actors outside
the "legitimate"
play of politics.
But perhaps
this should not be the immediate goal of those seeking
to end the violence.
Itmay be that the appropriate priority is to reestablish
some mechanisms
of trust and accountability.
I have described
the experi
ence of terror from the perspective
of the process of deincorporealization
in relation to the frames of reference of ordinary life. Such a process cannot
be brought to an end without
the restoration of stable formal institutional
spaces as well as noninstitutional
spaces, where words might regain their
value. This is the primary condition of trust. How might this be achieved?
That
is another
story.
ENDNOTES
1. Orlando
Fais Borda, El Hombre

2nd ed. (Bogot?:
minifundista,
y la tierra en Boyac?: Desarrollo

Editorial
Antares,
1957).
hist?rica
de una sociedad
150
P?caut
en
"Violencia
Ram?rez
is taken from William
Tab?n,
y democracia
expression
no. 3 (January-April,
An?lisis
Pol?tico,
Colombia,"
1988), pp. 64-79.
en Colombia,"
in Renan
3. Alejandro
de la violencia
"Territorios
Silva, ed., Territor
Reyes,
"Oil
and Andr?s
P?nate.
socidades
CERC,
ios, regiones,
1994), pp. 111-122;
(Bogot?:
2.
The
and Politics,"
Oxford,
1992).
(Ph.D. dissertation,
de
El poder
book by Adolfo
See the beautiful
Atehort?a,
y la sangre: Las historias
del Valle,
Valle (Cali: Gobernaci?n
1996).
Trujillo,
al clientelismo
del ELN: Del idealismo
"El sendero estrat?gico
5. Andr?s
P?nate,
guevarista
la guerra para
and Maria Victoria
in Malcom
Deas
eds., Reconocer
Ll?rente,
armado,"
la paz (Bogot?: Cerec-Norma-Edciones
construir
UniAndes,
1999), pp. 237-258.
a une Antropologie
de la Surmodernite
Introduction
6. Mark
Non-lieux,
(Paris:
Auge,
Seuil, 1992).
7. Alonso
Salazar, No nacimos
1993).
pa' semilla
(Bogot?: CINEP,
8. Fernando
La virgen de los sicarios
1994).
(Bogot?: Alafaguara,
Vallejo,
ou la d?valorisation
de l'avenir,"
9. Cf. Zaki Laidi,
1998),
Espirit
(February
"L'urgence
pp. 19-35.
comme un auture (Paris: Seuil-Points,
Soi-m?me
10. On narrative
identity, see Paul Ricoeur,
between
/Jem
makes
the distinction
In discussing
identity, Ricoeur
1990).
personal
as substance,
to permanence
in the time of the individual
is the reference
identity, which
an individual
is recognized.
the persistent
characteristics
and /pse-identity,
by which
11. Francisco
Guti?rrez
San?n, La ciudad representada
1998).
(Bogot?: Tercer Mundo/IEPRI,
4.

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Configurations of Space, Time, and Subjectivity in a Context of Terror: The Colombian Example

Author(s): Daniel Pcaut

of Space, Time, and Subjectivity

armed groups have not openly established

that began between the federal government

these formulations, we may discover an alterna

with them. It is also questionable

territorial control is the very basis of their existence

and corporations. More recently,

can be justified on the basis of rational calculation.

its legal foundation

The terror of recent years has served to undermine

to identify who is in charge in what areas. Juvenile gangs are

of peace" and populations

we may speak of an effective homogenization

of fear and terror, there

the inhabitants of the regions

in respect to the non

the state's disrepute

It must not be forgotten

and squander. This is not the

The various temporalities, which are by definition collective

from the standpoint

of those who are

over the disturbing

has actually taken place and why. Two generations

that has continued

that would make sense of the phenomena

level, every important event transforms the perception

to that of the consolidation

I want to suggest that under terror, the succession of experiences

and guerrillas have switched to the side of the paramilitaries.

the stability and continuity of personal identity.

In my interviews with young

Such narratives generally find no place in a larger "grand narrative"

These stories resist articulation within the framework of a global construct,

in my interviews with the

(hustling, scrabbling, racket).

that call for norms of behavior

and the shattering of temporal orientations,

as it fragments at the level of actual events or assumes

also creates a world of imagination.

Fais Borda, El Hombre

y la tierra en Boyac?: Desarrollo

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