Prayers and Stories of Peace - Religious Imaginaries & Victimhood Narratives in Colombia’s Road to Peace
A joint Las Casas Institute – Rodeemos el Diálogo (ReD) event in-person and online.
After half a century of bloodshed and over nine million registered victims, a peace agreement was signed in 2016 between the Colombian government and the FARC insurgency. Since then, enormous political efforts have been deployed to implement the agreements and to ensure conflict victims are front and centre of the peacebuilding process. However, the challenges underpinning Colombia’s transition from war to peace are substantial: meaningful peacebuilding requires a resolute effort on behalf of all sectors of society, which raises a myriad of questions that are fascinating as they are difficult.

With this in mind, this event explores the stories we tell ourselves and each other about violent conflict. It interrogates what it means to be a ‘victim’ of violence in Colombia and the role that religious imaginaries can play in restoring social relations disrupted by war. Drawing on their doctoral research, our two panellists will engage with some of the political, psycho-social, and faith-based determinants behind the recurrence of violence and the prospects for peace in Colombia and other conflict-torn societies.
Date: 6 March 2024, 17:00 (Wednesday, 8th week, Hilary 2024)
Venue: Blackfriars, St Giles OX1 3LY
Venue Details: Aula
Speakers: Alejandro Posada-Téllez (St Antony’s College), Eduardo F. Gutiérrez (Blackfriars), Dr Maria Power (Blackfriars)
Organiser contact email address: lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/event/prayers-and-stories-of-peace/
Booking email: lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Public
Editor: Kinga Rona-Gabnai