Uncovering the sources of revolutionary violence: the case of Colombia’s National Front (1958-1964)

Dodd, O ORCID: 0009-0005-7260-5185 (2024) Uncovering the sources of revolutionary violence: the case of Colombia’s National Front (1958-1964). Small Wars & Insurgencies, 35 (5). pp. 865-895. ISSN 0959-2318

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Abstract

Scholars often explain political violence by highlighting factors such as state weakness. This article shifts the analysis to a focus on state character. More specifically, the article analyses how the growth of revolutionary violence in 1960s Colombia was shaped by the earlier period of the National Front (1958–1964). This earlier period is crucial to understanding the outbreak of revolutionary violence because it gave rise to a project of state reorganization which refashioned the relationship between dominant and subaltern groups. The reorganization of alliances under the National Front helped to significantly reduce inter-party violence, but because of the way in which the form of state was reorganized, the National Front produced new conditions of conflict, which culminated in the growth of revolutionary violence. In making this case it is argued that the birth of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), reflected through the military offensive against Marquetalia in 1964, can only be effectively captured by appreciating how dominant forces implemented a state reorganization project, which produced new dynamics of conflict and ultimately failed to incorporate key subaltern groups.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4408 Political Science; 44 Human Society; 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; 1606 Political Science; 4408 Political science
Subjects:	F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JL Political institutions (America except United States)
Divisions:	Humanities and Social Science
Publisher:	Informa UK Ltd (Taylor and Francis)
Date of acceptance:	26 March 2024
Date of first compliant Open Access:	9 January 2026
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2026 13:56
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2026 13:56
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/09592318.2024.2336635
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27877

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