Mobilizing for Peace: Civil Society’s Influence on the Peace Process between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) (2010-2021)

This article analyzes how different civil society actors in Colombia used civil resistance to influence the peace process between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) between 2010 and 2021, thereby contributing to a recent research agenda on civil resistance and peace processes. Drawing on interviews and documentary analysis, we examine how social actors employed nonviolent resistance tactics to: (i) get the parties to the negotiating table, (ii) carve themselves a space to participate in the process and influence it, (iii) press the parties to take measures to alleviate civilians’ suffering, (iv) help the parties overcome hurdles at the negotiating table, and (v) push for a resumption of peace talks after their suspension in 2019. We find that, although the peace negotiations did not reach a successful conclusion at the time, the pro-peace movement helped to generate a propitious environment for such negotiations to take place and backed the parties’ efforts to achieve peace. These findings suggest a theory of change that departs from Gene Sharp’s theory of power–-which underlies most civil resistance studies–-for pro-peace movements. Our data indeed show that pro-peace civil resistance campaigns contribute to peace processes mainly by influencing society at large, rather than the parties directly.