Abstract

LOBO, Iván D.; VELEZ, María Alejandra  and  ARROYO, Álvaro. Origins of Community Resistance to Illicit Crops: Evidence from an Afro-Colombian Community Council in the South of Buenaventura. Estud. Socio-Juríd [online]. 2020, vol.22, n.2, pp.319-359.  Epub Aug 16, 2021. ISSN 0124-0579.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.9148.

In this article, we explore the mechanisms on which the capacity of communities to resist the influence of illicit crops is based or the conditions that explain higher 'stock' of social capital in one Afro-Colombian Community Council in the south of the municipality of Buenaventura, Colombia. This council has a history of community resistance to illicit economies and has been particularly effective in halting the expansion of coca crops and illegal mining in its territory. Drawing upon data and results from our previous studies and additional inputs from one of the authors, a leader of the council himself, we followed a qualitative method based on thematic analysis to understand the conditions that explain effective community resistance. We identified three conditions: functional complementarity among grassroots organizations, the exercise of distributed (or collective) leadership, and the influence of foundational leaders. These conditions are not easily transferable. Therefore, the possibility of replicating community resistance in other contexts is limited. The analysis, however, provides insights that may be useful for communities in similar contexts.

Keywords : Illicit economies; community resistance; community leadership; governance; afro-colombians.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )