New Books in Political Science Alex Diamond, "Governing the Excluded: Rural Livelihoods Beyond Coca in Colombia's Peace Laboratory" (U Chicago Press, 2026)
Apr 6, 2026
Alex Diamond, sociologist and ethnographer who lived years in Briceño, explores rural livelihoods, coca substitution, and state formation in post-conflict Colombia. He discusses how peace investments reshaped local economies and authority. Topics include why coca replaced coffee, how substitution programs create state dependency, contested extractivism (dams and mining), and the tangled relations between armed groups and municipal power.
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Years Of Immersion Anchored The Ethnography
- Diamond lived in Briceño across multiple summers and a two-and-a-half-year COVID-era fieldwork period to build deep relationships.
- He focused his book on four families he met in the first summers, accompanying them to farms, meetings, protests, and campaigns.
Camera Work Helped Build Field Relationships
- Alex used photography and an in-progress documentary to deepen rapport and justify presence during fieldwork.
- A camera offered permission to hang around, produce portraits for participants, and structure participatory filming with two families central to the book.
Peacebuilding Can Produce New Recruitment
- Peacebuilding can increase recruitment when it destroys informal livelihoods that once provided steady work for youth.
- In Briceño, coca substitution removed reliable seasonal wages for young men, triggering record joining of rearmed guerrillas seeking income and mobility.
