La Minga 2020: A Historical, Decolonizing Contact Zone in Contemporary Colombia

Abstract

This paper explores how the Indigenous social protest of “La Minga 2020” became an opportunity for re-appropriating and decolonizing the public space of La plaza de Bolivar, while fostering collective opposition to the ongoing violence affecting Indigenous communities in Colombia. Through the analysis of “La Minga 2020”, the colonial character of the plaza de Bolivar, and the use of theoretical concepts such as Contact Zones and decolonization of spaces, the article reflects on how Indigenous people transformed the hegemonic space into a place of collectiveness.

Keywords

• contact zone
• indigenous resistance
• social mobilization
• protest
• la minga
• popular agency