Witnessing Peace: Becoming Agents Under Duress in Colombia [Paperback]

This book, rooted in the disciplines of political theology and peace studies, reflects with and on war-affected communities in Colombia in order to offer crucial lessons about transitioning from violence to peace.

This book, rooted in the disciplines of theology and peace studies, reflects with and on war-affected communities in Colombia about transitioning from violence to peace. It argues that much that is significant for peace- building in situations of war escapes the notice of governments, human rights organizations, and academics because it is accomplished through a kind of agency they do not recognize. This book names that agency as constructive agency under duress and demonstrates its significance for peacebuilding by reflecting on a form that the author has seen operating in Colombia over nearly two decades.

Introduction; 1 The making of duress; 2 Agents under duress and the frayed edges of human rights and post-structuralist alternatives; 3 Now time; 4 Gradual time; 5 State of change: Pauline principalities and powers as a model for a political theology of peacebuilding; 6 A nonviolent political theology of peacebuilding

Janna L. Hunter-Bowman is Assistant Professor of Peace Studies and Christian Social Ethics at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, USA.