Between hope and fire: rural communities, women’s capabilities, and land changes in El Carmen de Bolívar, Colombia

This thesis examines environmental and human development transformations in El Carmen de Bolívar, Colombia, from 2000 to 2023, across shifting dynamics of conflict and peacebuilding. Using qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping, and a literature review, it explores how perceptions of natural resource change illuminate lived experiences of conflict and environmental peacebuilding (EPB). Few studies traced how peace and violence fluctuate over time in relation to environmental change—an important gap this research seeks to address. The analysis shows conflict and peace processes are overlapping and often contradictory, creating an ambiguous path toward peace. It highlights the mixed outcomes of EPB strategies, which can lead to both positive and negative consequences for the environment. Chapter three examine how people’s perceived relationship with their environment evolves over time, revealing the “slippages” between peace and conflict—and what it means empirically for people to perceive whether "peace" is being achieved or not. While some interventions enabled recovery and local capacity-building, others reproduced exclusion, land concentration, and new forms of dispossession. Chapter four focuses on rural women’s changing roles in environmental management, highlighting their growing leadership and participation, while also addressing persistent inequalities—such as machismo, limited land access, and ongoing violence—that shape their capabilities and constrain peacebuilding outcomes. Together, these findings challenge EPB scholarship by demonstrating how peacebuilding interventions support peace and sustain conflict. The thesis provides an empirical example of the conflict cycle within EPB processes.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Quijano Hoyos, Manuela

Contributors dc:contributor

• Johnson, McKenzie F.
• Novoa, Magdalena
• Rodriguez, Luz A.

• Environmental Peacebuilding
• Conflict Cycle
• Land Cover
• Land Changes
• Capabilities
• Women
• Colombia

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Manuela Quijano Hoyos

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130057

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F130057