Hegemony, capitalism and peace: A critique of the ‘armed peace’ in Urabá, Colombia

Abstract

This article delves into the concept of ‘armed peace’ in the context of the social and armed conflict in Urabá, Colombia. The term ‘armed peace’ refers to the relative stability that was established in Urabá since the 1990s, when paramilitary groups took control of the region from subversive guerrillas with the aid of the state, local capitalists, Banana transnational corporations, and trade unions. This stability was achieved through a paramilitary rule that was based on capitalist interests and enabled by the suppression of subversion. The study explores the relationship between peace and consent, and how consent has affected social and production relations in Urabá. By examining the Colombian conflict as a hegemonic vehicle that has shaped the peace in Urabá, this article aims to shed light on how apparent social phenomena can be essential to capitalism in specific contexts. Hegemonic vehicles are historical institutions that restructure social relations and, through concessions, hinder class struggle. In Colombia, the conflict can be understood as such as it has been institutionalized to gain workers’ consent to the social order over time. In Urabá, this process allowed for the reorganization of interests and the establishment of the status quo’s armed peace, which overtook the old consent to the project of subversive peace. Our analysis could extend beyond Colombia’s specific case and seeks to critique social institutions that enjoy relative ‘consensus’ but serve to transport and enforce capitalism’s core values. These historically specific structures play a key role in achieving consent to capitalism in conflictive social relations, both in and beyond the workplace, and exist within specific social contexts that echo the hegemonic global political economy.