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Dissident Peace: Autonomous Struggles and the State in Colombia
In 2016, the Peace Accords between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP) and the Colombian government promised to bring an end to over fifty years of armed conflict. Yet, despite widespread international acclaim and heavy investments in the peace process, war continued. In this book, Anthony Dest provides a rigorous reassessment of the terms of peacebuilding through an ethnography of ongoing struggles for autonomy, based on over fifteen years of research and activism in Colombia. By questioning the potential for peace under the aegis of the state, Dissident Peace opens up critical space from which to imagine more radical forms of peace.
From the coca fields of southwestern Colombia to the negotiating table in Cuba, Dissident Peace brings the contradictions of peacebuilding and organizing to life. Throughout the book, Dest locates contemporary violence within longer histories of colonial capitalism and centers the lives and insights of Black and Indigenous communities in Colombia. He identifies "dissident peace" as a potent alternative to dominant, state-centric peace frameworks—one based on evolving principles of autonomy and self-determination by marginalized communities. With vital implications for social movements globally, this book provides a gripping account of what it means to struggle today.
From the coca fields of southwestern Colombia to the negotiating table in Cuba, Dissident Peace brings the contradictions of peacebuilding and organizing to life. Throughout the book, Dest locates contemporary violence within longer histories of colonial capitalism and centers the lives and insights of Black and Indigenous communities in Colombia. He identifies "dissident peace" as a potent alternative to dominant, state-centric peace frameworks—one based on evolving principles of autonomy and self-determination by marginalized communities. With vital implications for social movements globally, this book provides a gripping account of what it means to struggle today.
264 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 19, 2025
An important text that paints a vivid, complex picture not from the bird’s eye view of power or media headlines, but from the trenches of struggle centered around the voices, experiences, and cosmovisions of Black and Indigenous communities in what is called Colombia.
Rigorous but accessible, Dest helps the reader make sense of everything from the 2016 Peace Accords to the 2021 Cali uprising to the 2022 election of Gustavo Petro. Broken down into four chapters, he brings to the fore those often left out of the conversation by problematizing the vanguardism of the FARC-EP, the connections between coca cultivation and settler colonialism, the living legacy of white supremacy, and the successes and setbacks of urban rebellion.
Based on relationships built over decades and a deep commitment and unapologetic analysis and reflexivity, Dest translates – literally and figuratively – the terrain of struggle for those committed to liberation and autonomy on terms distinct from either the FARC-EP or the State. The book impressively captures the dynamics at play at the intersection of capitalism, settler colonialism, whiteness, patriarchy, drug trafficking, guerrilla movements, and state repression.
It centers those excluded by power’s vision for Colombia, and demonstrates how out of, or despite, that exclusion, Black and Indigenous peoples continue to organize, propose alternatives, strengthen autonomy, and work for a dissident peace.
Rigorous but accessible, Dest helps the reader make sense of everything from the 2016 Peace Accords to the 2021 Cali uprising to the 2022 election of Gustavo Petro. Broken down into four chapters, he brings to the fore those often left out of the conversation by problematizing the vanguardism of the FARC-EP, the connections between coca cultivation and settler colonialism, the living legacy of white supremacy, and the successes and setbacks of urban rebellion.
Based on relationships built over decades and a deep commitment and unapologetic analysis and reflexivity, Dest translates – literally and figuratively – the terrain of struggle for those committed to liberation and autonomy on terms distinct from either the FARC-EP or the State. The book impressively captures the dynamics at play at the intersection of capitalism, settler colonialism, whiteness, patriarchy, drug trafficking, guerrilla movements, and state repression.
It centers those excluded by power’s vision for Colombia, and demonstrates how out of, or despite, that exclusion, Black and Indigenous peoples continue to organize, propose alternatives, strengthen autonomy, and work for a dissident peace.
January 29, 2026
Wow. I don’t even know where to begin with writing a review because this book has given me a million and one things to consider. As a Colombian-American who has never “properly” lived in Colombia, I have always felt like an outsider looking in when it comes to the nation’s politics. As such, my perspective has always been incomplete and lacking in nuance. I picked up this book to learn a little more about the Colombian political and popular landscape and I am happy to say that it delivered.
Dissident Peace does an excellent job of educating the reader about different resistance movements in and around northern Cauca and how different ideas such as racism and capitalism influence their dynamics. Specifically, Dest guides the reader through the aftermath of the 2016 Peace Agreements, the rise of and resistance to coca production, and the 2021 uprisings in Cali. This book criticizes state-centric approaches to “peace” and questions what forms of autonomy should be pursued.
Dissident Peace does an excellent job of educating the reader about different resistance movements in and around northern Cauca and how different ideas such as racism and capitalism influence their dynamics. Specifically, Dest guides the reader through the aftermath of the 2016 Peace Agreements, the rise of and resistance to coca production, and the 2021 uprisings in Cali. This book criticizes state-centric approaches to “peace” and questions what forms of autonomy should be pursued.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews