Unstitching and restitching gender relations in the reincorporation process of FARC ex-combatants in Colombia

This chapter explores why the gender approach to peace in Colombia, enshrined in the 2016 peace agreement between the guerrilla group FARC and the government, has not translated into the everyday lives of most former guerrilla fighters/peace signatories. To do so, it unstitches the institutional dimensions and discourses of gender relations during and after violent conflict and restitches them through the gendered, intersectional everyday experiences of female ex-combatants. It shows that, like in earlier demobilizations of fighters, FARC women’s participation is overshadowed by a patriarchal society that subjects them to its rules. Although armed conflicts and peace negotiations can be conducive contexts for the redefinition of gender roles, this does not necessarily translate into deeper transformations of the identities, power structures, and gender ideologies legitimizing inequality. Moreover, by returning to traditional roles during disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), the guarantee of women’s rights already achieved is put at risk. The chapter draws on Colombian and international literature with a particular focus on female combatants’ own voices about DDR processes since the 1990s, combined with empirical insights from the authors’ research with reincorporating FARC ex-combatants/peace signatories that employed textile-making and narrative methods to explore transformations in subjectivities and (gender) relationships.