Ancestral Land, Territorial Displacement and the New Identity of “Mujer Negra Desplazada” in Bogotá, Colombia

In recent years, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have expressed alarm about Human Right Violations against indigenous, black and mestizo communities in Colombia. These communities were rural and were previously forcibly displaced in the city of Ciudad Bolivar. Using ethnography and testimonials collected in Bogotá, this project explores the role of displacement in the lives of a group of black displaced women who experienced it firsthand. I incorporate these women’s stories prior to their displacement, focusing specifically on their relationships to their land. I examine the radical break from their land and territory, which resulted in a lost sense of identity. This examination of testimonial narrative and memory of black displaced women points out how their life is being impacted by their displacement and why they feel essentially lost and “community-less” in their new surroundings. This paper answers one question: How forced land and territorial displacement disrupts their ability of living as a community, and what is to be a “mujer negra desplazada” or black displaced woman in their “new” home in the city of Bogotá.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Latin American Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2010

Author dc:creator

• Barraza, Nilda

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dominguez, Virginia R.

• Territory land displacement
• black women identity
• Colombia

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2010 Nilda Barraza

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16819

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/16819