La juntadera: recuperación de prácticas comunitarias cotidianas como forma de reparación en Palmirita, municipio de Cocorná, Antioquia

Abstract

This article explores the collective actions taken by the inhabitants of Palmirita —a rural area in the municipality of Cocorná, in Antioquia, Colombia— to try to repair the damage caused by the humanitarian crisis resulting from the armed conflict to their emotional and community ties. The objective is to show that the reactivation of daily community practices constitutes a way to repair such damages. In this respect, the Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology, based on the implementation of workshops and participant observations, integrates reflection and practice in order to recognize both the damage caused and the actions and expectations needed to repair. The methodology’s participatory approach also entailed collective work to restore the Palmirita school as a form of collective reparation. The term juntadera was used by one of Palmirita’s inhabitants to denote the importance and satisfaction of getting together on a regular basis to work collectively for the benefit of the community. It is suggested that, in addition to coming together to engage in daily practices that contribute to the recovery of affective and social ties, there is a complementary need to come together with other communities that, working in partnership, can advance the defense and care of these rural community spaces that have been affected both by the armed conflict and by exogenous economic interests intended to exploit natural resources. The article shows that the study of everyday community practices, as well as the analysis of their incidence and persistence in the production of the common in a specific space, is useful in understanding the restoration of moral and social bonds affected by the armed conflict.

Keywords

• colombian armed conflict
• community rural areas
• harm
• moral reparation
• production of the common