El conflicto interno colombiano. Identidad, solidaridad y conflicto social

Abstract

The article draws links between the concepts of identity, solidarity and social conflict. It argues that, since feelings of identification favor social cohesion, when the construction of national identity does not achieve positive expression it fails to produce solidarity. In Colombia the ambivalent and forced character of the Independence movement resulted, among other things, in an imperfect construction of national identity and led to turbulent history of violence and segregation. The consequence has been difficult social bonds, hostile forms of social contact, and the development of what has been described as one of the most impressive contemporary examples of anomie. Based on Durkheim's sociology, the article suggests that the conflict in Colombia is basically a moral problem and must be treated as such, as this is the only way to see in this conflict an opportunity for social change.