Conversations in Colombia


Book Description

This collaborative study in economic theory is cast as a sort of conversation, implicating not only the authors (an American economic anthropologist and a Colombian colleague) but also the rural Colombian people, who contributed the raw materials for the conversation.




Evil Hour in Colombia


Book Description

Colombia is the least understood of Latin American countries. Its human tragedy, which features terrifying levels of kidnapping, homicide and extortion, is generally ignored or exploited. In this urgent new work Forrest Hylton, who has extensive first-hand experience of living and working in Colombia, explores its history of 150 years of political conflict, characterized by radical-popular mobilization and reactionary repression. Evil Hour in Colombia shows how patterns of political conflict, from the mid-nineteenth century to today's guerilla narco-traffickers and paramilitaries, explain the wear currently destroying Colombian lives, property, communities and territory. In doing so, it traces how Colombia's "coffee capitalism" gave way to the cattle and cocaine republic of the 1980s, and how land, wealth and power have been steadily accumulated by the light-skinned top of the social pyramid through a brutal combination of terror, expropriation and economic depression.




Short Walks from Bogotá


Book Description

For decades, Colombia was the 'narcostate'. Now travel to Colombia and South America is on the rise, and it's seen as one of the rising stars of the global economy. Where does the truth lie? Writer and journalist Tom Feiling, author of the acclaimed study of cocaine The Candy Machine, has journeyed throughout Colombia, down roads that were until recently too dangerous to travel, to paint a fresh picture of one of the world's most notorious and least-understood countries. He talks to former guerrilla fighters and their ex-captives; women whose sons were 'disappeared' by paramilitaries; the nomadic tribe who once thought they were the only people on earth and now charge $10 for a photo; the Japanese 'emerald cowboy' who made a fortune from mining; and revels in the stories that countless ordinary Colombians tell. How did a land likened to paradise by the first conquistadores become a byword for hell on earth? Why is one of the world's most unequal nations also one of its happiest? How is it rebuilding itself after decades of violence, and how successful has the process been so far? Vital, shocking, often funny and never simplistic, Short Walks from Bogota unpicks the tangled fabric of Colombia, to create a stunning work of reportage, history and travel writing.




Colombia a Comedy of Errors


Book Description

Why did an Italian opera singer put together Colombia's national anthem? Did Catherine the Great inspire the national flag? Can you really lose a country in a poker game? Are sins and corruption good for the economy? Why is the Venus de Milo wearing a poncho? What is arroz en bajo and why are the corridors of Colombian justice full of jumping monkeys? Colombia a comedy of errors tells the story of all fifty million Colombians, examining the country's history, people, culture, colombianomics and justice. The first edition of this funny, full-colour book was a bestseller in Colombia from the first month of its release. This, the second edition, contains brand new and expanded chapters including: Dating, Beauty, A to B and Justice, which gives the book its name. The book was written by British writer Victoria Kellaway and Colombian artist Sergio J. Lievano and reveals the secrets behind a nation that has drama and comedy seeped into its bloodstream. The pair study the country with an eye for detail that will surprise everyone, from the most knowledgeable reader to those who don't have a clue about the country. This lively, humour-filled book has a serious heart and makes for an ideal gift or travel companion. It contains more than 200 illustrations, caricaturing famous faces (including Shakira, Bolivar, Nieto Gil, Botero and Uribe) as well as the millions of Colombians fighting to survive their country's daily contradictions. Colombia a comedy of errors is an inspiring journey into the depths of the Colombian gene and what it means for Colombians everywhere. Praise for Colombia a comedy of errors (first edition) "A must-read for the thousands of foreigners who come to our country every year." Semana "There is no better way to express what the country can be than the phrase 'Colombia a comedy of errors'. We recommend it." SOHO "It's an instruction manual for understanding Colombian identity." El Tiempo "Make sure it's on your reading list." The Washington Post




Feminist Conversations on Peace


Book Description

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. What is feminist peace? How can we advocate for peace from patriarchy? What do women, globally, advocate for when they use the term 'peace'? This edited collection brings together conversations across borders and boundaries to explore plural, intersectional and interdisciplinary concepts of feminist peace. The book includes contributions from a geographically diverse range of scholars, judges, practitioners and activists, and the chapters cut across themes of movement building and resistance and explore the limits of institutionalised peacebuilding. The chapters deal with a range of issues, such as environmental degradation, militarization, online violence and arms spending. Offering a resource to advance theoretical development and to advocate for policy change, this book transcends traditional approaches to the study of peace and security and embraces diverse voices and perspectives which are absent in both academic and policy spaces.




Peacebuilding in Colombia


Book Description

In this book, Joan C. Lopez and Beth Fisher-Yoshida offer an alternative narrative of youth and peacebuilding, to the popular one about youth, violence, and peacemaking. Using testimonies of current and past youth community leaders in Colombia, Lopez and Fisher-Yoshida tell a story of hope, creativity, and unrelenting resilience. They bring attention to the ways peaceful responses to violent conflicts are formed in communities and how these have the potential to inform processes of peacebuilding in areas with similar social and historical characteristics. Focused on action-oriented initiatives, the book concludes by proposing ways in which social change can continue to happen and how we might be able to foster it. Lopez and Fisher-Yoshida specifically explore ways in which we can continue to support efforts and create new initiatives for other youth. Some of these ideas include doing more capacity building, fostering more networking and knowledge transfers, identifying ways of increasing social entrepreneurship, and building more effective youth leaders. Peacebuilding in Colombia fills an important gap in the literature on the characteristics of peacebuilding. It is a must read for academics, students and practitioners interested in the study and practice of peacebuilding in violent and post violent contexts.




Historical Dictionary of Colombia


Book Description

Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America and one of the continent's most populous nations. It has substantial oil reserves and is a major producer of gold, silver, emeralds, platinum, and coal, along with a significant number of natural resources. Colombia has also been ravaged by a decades-long violent conflict involving outlawed armed groups, drug cartels, and gross violations of human rights. Recently the country has made some progress towards improving security, and President Santos has pledged to continue to improve security by passing laws to strengthen the judicial system; a reform of the manner of distributing royalties paid by mining and petroleum companies; and a tougher law against corruption. The Historical Dictionary of Colombia covers the history of Colombia through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and a bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Colombia.




Children disengaged from armed groups in Colombia


Book Description

Drawing on a broad research on historical, geographical and socio-political context of the Colombian conflict, the book explores the role of children entangled in the military fighting. Following the case studies of minors, starting from the recruitment up to the disengagement, the authors seek to understand the process itself and to analyze various support methods offered to the affected children. Weaving together different points of view, coming from the children, and from the workers of the organizations offering help, the book gives an engaging and dramatic overview of the phenomenon of child soldiers. Authors: Julia Villanueva O’Driscoll, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Gerrit Loots, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Ilse Derluyn, Ghent University, Belgium




A Trip to Colombia


Book Description

Coming of Age with the Jesuits chronicles a young mans formative years from 1959 to 1968 studying on the undergraduate level at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and for the PhD at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Between junior and senior years, Curran had his first educational experience in Latin America studying at the National University of Mexico and traveling to Guatemala. This would lead to an increase in his love of languages and area studies and a future teaching career committed to the same at Arizona State University. The book is not an academic treatise on the Jesuits or their method of study, the Ratio Studiorum, but rather a chronicle of the experiences in their schools by a young man introduced to Jesuit ways and discipline followed by serious study along with college fun and travel. Students from the 1960s will surely recall, relate to, and enjoy similar moments in their own days with the Jesuits. The book chronicles as well the ongoing process of growing up of a small-town farm boy experiencing the big city, college, foreign travel, and the next step of serious study with more precise career goals on the graduate level.




Aurality


Book Description

In this audacious book, Ana María Ochoa Gautier explores how listening has been central to the production of notions of language, music, voice, and sound that determine the politics of life. Drawing primarily from nineteenth-century Colombian sources, Ochoa Gautier locates sounds produced by different living entities at the juncture of the human and nonhuman. Her "acoustically tuned" analysis of a wide array of texts reveals multiple debates on the nature of the aural. These discussions were central to a politics of the voice harnessed in the service of the production of different notions of personhood and belonging. In Ochoa Gautier's groundbreaking work, Latin America and the Caribbean emerge as a historical site where the politics of life and the politics of expression inextricably entangle the musical and the linguistic, knowledge and the sensorial.