Environmental Struggles Cultivating Democracy in the Steep Terrains of Colombian Highlands

In this article, we analyze the socio-environmental conflicts in the high plateau region of the eastern range of the Colombian Andes from a regional political ecology perspective. We focus on six specific cases of conflicts over industrial pollution, mining and water management to show how they are connected within a regional ecosystem and economy. We emphasize that these struggles have cultivated new collective identities, and engendered social learning processes concerning the natural environment, tools and tactics of resistance and democratic practice. As the current peace negotiations to end Colombia’s 50-years long armed conflict open up new possibilities of political and social transformation, these socio-environmental struggles will surely be an important factor in shaping the future of rural territories and the people inhabiting them.