Elusive Justice: Women, Land Rights, and Colombia's Transition to Peace

Citation:

Meertens, Danny. 2019. Elusive Justice: Women, Land Rights, and Colombia's Transition to Peace. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Author: Danny Meertens

Annotation:

Summary:
Fifty years of violence perpetrated by guerrillas, paramilitaries, and official armed forces in Colombia displaced more than six million people. In 2011, as part of a larger transitional justice process, the Colombian government approved a law that would restore land rights for those who lost their homes during the conflicts. However, this restitution process lacked appropriate provisions for rural women beyond granting them a formal property title. Drawing on decades of research, Elusive Justice demonstrates how these women continue to face numerous adverse circumstances, including geographical isolation, encroaching capitalist enterprises, and a dearth of social and institutional support. Donny Meertens contends that women's advocacy organizations must have a prominent role in overseeing these transitional policies in order to create a more just society. By bringing together the underresearched topic of property repayment and the pursuit of gender justice in peacebuilding, these findings have broad significance elsewhere in the world. (Summary from University of Wisconsin Press)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Land, Gender, and Justice on the Eve of Peace
 
2. Transition: Back to Normal Life?
 
3. Dispossession: A Twofold Gendered History
 
4. Friction: Land Restitution at Work
 
5. Transformation: The Elusive Future
 
6. Conclusion: Linking Land, Justice and Gender to the Peace Accord
 
7. Epilogue: Women Protagonists of the Peace Accord on Gender and Land

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Displacement & Migration, Gender, Women, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2019

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