Imprisoned in FARC: Causes of the Failure of the Reintegration of Former FARC Fighters into Colombian Society

It has been eight years since the signing of the peace agreement between representatives of the Colombian government and the leftist guerrilla organization FARC-EP. The so-called "Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace" introduced various tools and practices for transforming the longstanding Colombian conflict into the desired state of peace. This is intended to be achieved also with the socio-economic reintegration of former FARC-EP combatants into Colombian society. However, despite a relatively favourable linear trend in the implementation of the Final Agreement’s provisions, various researchers, analysts, and investigative journalists emphasize the long-term contradictory progress in achieving the goals of the socio-economic reintegration of former FARC-EP combatants. This unique interpretative case study examines the current state of peacebuilding application in Colombia and explores the factors contributing to the failure of conflict transformation tools and practices. Is the inappropriate setup of reintegration activities to blame, or can the causes of failure be attributed to other dynamics? The study’s author views the Colombian peace process through a social constructivist paradigm, utilizing in-depth semi-structured interviews with direct participants – whether its recipients or agents/brokers and local experts – of reintegration and content analysis of sources and available literature. A significant research output aims to communicate the extent to which applied peacebuilding tools and practices are successful in addressing the structural causes of the conflict. This is crucial because signs of a newly emerging conflict in the form of strengthening dissident guerrilla militias and escalating violence are already evident. Successful resolution of structural causes could lead to de-escalating the smouldering conflict. However, the research also aims to present examples of best practices in the field of peacebuilding that would be suitable for emulation.