SOCIAL MOBILIZATION AS A RESPONSE TO STATE IMMOBILITY AND INSTITUTIONAL BLOCKADE IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

The study analyzes social mobilization as a response to state immobility and institutional blockade in Colombia. It has been posited that a significant proportion of the popular struggles and social mobilizations that transpired in Colombia during the twentieth century were responses to the social and political challenges engendered by state immobility and the institutional blockade that was perpetuated by this situation. To this end, the genesis of these issues is traced to the nineteenth century, wherein the Treasury, the ecclesiastical institutions, and the political parties are identified as the forces that effectively subjugated the State and monopolized the political space for decades. The focus will be directed towards elucidating the democratizing essence of social mobilizations. This approach aims to demonstrate that these phenomena cannot be perceived as rudimentary responses to the immediate circumstances of their proponents. Instead, they should be regarded as dynamic processes of political transformation that have exhibited resilience in the face of violence. These mobilizations have facilitated the expansion of rights and the evolution of the political system.