Land Restitution and Racial Inequality in Colombia’s Post-conflict Transition

Workshop with Laura García-Montoya, Kellogg Institute Visiting Fellow, and Ana Montoya, Duke University

"Land Restitution and Racial Inequality in Colombia’s Post-conflict Transition"

Abstract:

This paper studies the politics of land restitution and its relationship with racial and ethnic inequality in Colombia. In 2011, the Government created a Land Restitution Unit (LRU) and the Restitution Land Courts to address internal displacement and land dispossession. Since then, restitution judges have been active in leveraging sentences to order national and local state institutions to coordinate broader development and infrastructure projects, such as schools, rural electrification, and roads to facilitate the return of displaced communities. Importantly, the law recognizes the collective property rights of black and indigenous communities as they were disproportionally affected by violence and displacement. Yet, there is important variation in the decisions at different stages of the judicial process (administrative, judicial, enforcement) across time and communities. What explains temporal and subnational variation in judicial decisions and their enforcement to protect the land rights of black and indigenous communities?

For the pre-circulated materials or more information, contact Gary Goertz.