Coalitions for land grabbing in wartime: state, paramilitaries and elites in Colombia

Abstract

This analysis considers two contrasting trajectories of coercive and illegal land accumulation across two northern Colombian municipalities in wartime. Together they reveal how the state established strategic alliances of indirect rule with paramilitaries, local elites and non-local investors. In return, these groups gained access to institutions and incentives, using them to undertake processes of massive and rapid land accumulation. How these strategies of indirect rule interact with the agrarian structures of the rural territories – as well as the changing dynamics of war – is crucial to understanding the varying patterns of land accumulation seen in contexts affected by protracted armed conflict.

Topics & Concepts