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Telling the Difference: Guerrillas and Paramilitaries in the Colombian War

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  • Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín

    (Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Relaciones Internacionales of the Nacional University of Colombia, fgutiers@hotmail.com)

Abstract

The effort to build a political economy of war without politics is finding its limits. The question now is what comes next. How to put politics back in? This article compares systematically two non-state armed groups that participate in the Colombian conflict, the main guerrilla (FARC) and the paramilitary. It shows that despite their similar financial bases, they appear to exhibit systematic differences— regarding both their social composition and their internal/external behavior—and claims that the key to understanding them is the set of organizational devices that each group crafts in its process of survival and growth. All this suggests that a main tenet of the early political economy of war, that all non-state armed groups can be understood as being strategically identical, is flawed. It also poses a classificatory challenge.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, 2008. "Telling the Difference: Guerrillas and Paramilitaries in the Colombian War," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(1), pages 3-34, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:36:y:2008:i:1:p:3-34
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329207312181
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cramer, C., 2002. "Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1845-1864, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Blattman, 2009. "Civil War: A Review of Fifty Years of Research," Working Papers id:2231, eSocialSciences.
    2. Christopher Blattman & Edward Miguel, 2010. "Civil War," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 3-57, March.
    3. Enzo Nussio & Ben Oppenheim, 2013. "Trusting the Enemy: Confidence in the state among ex-combatants," HiCN Working Papers 144, Households in Conflict Network.

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