Violence and Modernity. Reflections on the Present Situation in Colombia

This study looks at the present Colombian situation both descriptively and normatively. In particular, it wants to offer a more precise description of specific characteristics of Colombia’s situation. But it will also critically examine the bond that ties it to modernity – especially on its liberal side. The central thesis is that the Colombian armed conflict cannot be fully understood without analysing its participation in a society that has never ceased asserting its membership in the liberal tradition. This has happened in the dominant political regime as well as in the aspiration of its elites, even though they have not tried to lay the social foundations for such an aspiration.