Reflections about Collective Horizons and Emancipatory Praxis in the Experience of the National Network of Women Ex-Combatants of the Insurgency (Colombia)

Abstract

The political practices and collective actions of women ex-combatants constitute a social and political phenomenon that faces serious difficulties in terms of social recognition, partly due to the stigmatization of their experiences. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to propose a reading of the political practices of these women, demonstrating that these practices are not limited to their involvement in armed insurgencies, but also find collective channels outside of guerrilla groups. With this objective, the case of the Red Nacional de Mujeres Excombatientes de la Insurgencia (Red Mujerex) is presented and analyzed as a unique organizational experience of women who were militants in revolutionary armed movements. Special attention is paid to the continuities and ruptures of their political practices within and outside the armed struggle, which allows the identification of elements that are constitutive and indicative of the emancipatory potential of the political praxis of women ex-combatants and their contributions to peacebuilding inside and outside the institutionalism of the “State”.