Unfreezing of the conflict due to the peace agreement with FARC–EP in Colombia: Signature (2016) and implementation (2018).

The signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC–EP) guerrilla in 2016 symbolized a de-escalation of the conflict. But, in addition to the political will of the parties previously in conflict, it is necessary to transform the psychosocial infrastructure of the culture of conflict. To analyze this dynamic, beliefs and emotions that constitute barriers to peace, and those that allow for an unfreezing, were studied in narratives of 1,231 Colombians at two different moments in time: the signing of the agreement in 2016, and its implementation in 2018. The results show the following: (a) an unfreezing during the signing, through instigating and mediating beliefs, (b) presence of conflict ethos in a differentiated way during the two moments, (c) change in the language of the hindering beliefs, according to dominant political narratives of each moment, and (d) tendency to freeze during implementation, supported by hindering beliefs, based on the context of social and political polarization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research