Abstract
Decolonising research methodologies has expanded opportunities for a more pluriversal world, yet knowledge production still remains controlled by a privileged minority. This piece examines how vivencias (lived experiences) can shift attention and privilege away from dominant forms of knowledge. I offer three examples of transdisciplinary collaborations rooted in grassroots movements, led by Afro-descendant women affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. Despite widespread fears, these women chose to speak out, using art and art-making as means to (re)signify and (re)construct collective memory amid violence. They do not work alone; academics and social actors join these women’s struggles, co-creating knowledge and resistance. These stories show how vivencias expressed through art become tools for weaving alternative knowledges from below and for developing situated, collective knowledge that fosters critical awareness and social change through peaceful resistance. This approach (re)invents research practices rooted in struggles for collective liberation, valuing diverse ways of knowing and being to challenge the dominance of traditional knowledge production and pursue epistemic justice.
References
Ahenakew, C. (2016) “Grafting Indigenous Ways of Knowing Onto Non-Indigenous Ways of Being: The (Underestimated) Challenges of a Decolonial Imagination,” International Review of Qualitative Research, 9(3), pp. 323–340. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1525/irqr.2016.9.3.323.
Appadurai, A. (2006) “The right to research,” Globalisation, Societies and Education, 4(2), pp. 167–177. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14767720600750696.
Archila Neira, M. (1995) “Protestas sociales en Colombia 1946-1958,” Historia Crítica, (11), pp. 63–78. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7440/histcrit11.1995.03.
Atehortúa, A. (2019) Bordar hasta hacer envolver el Palacio de Justicia, Hacemos Memoria. Available at: https://hacemosmemoria.org/2019/10/06/bordar-hasta-envolver-el-palacio-de-justicia-virgelina-chara-centro-de-memoria-paz-y-reconciliacion-de-bogota/ (Accessed: December 21, 2021).
Ayyash, M. (2025) Defining decolonial liberation in Palestine, Reading Decoloniality. Available at: https://readingdecoloniality.warwick.ac.uk/defining-decolonial-liberation-in-palestine/ (Accessed: February 28, 2025).
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2021) “One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?,” Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(3), pp. 328–352. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238.
Cadavid Rico, R.M. (2014) “Mujer : blanco del conflicto armado en Colombia,” Analecta Política, 4(7), pp. 301–318.
Chilisa, B. (2012) Indigenous Research Methodologies. SAGE Publications.
Chilisa, B. (2017) “Decolonising transdisciplinary research approaches: an African perspective for enhancing knowledge integration in sustainability science,” Sustainability Science, 12(5), pp. 813–827. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0461-1.
CIVP (2021) Desplazamiento forzado masivo en el Pacifico Colombiano.
CODHES (2020) Mas de 20 mil personas despalzadas en el Pacífico en el ultimo año.
Comisión de la Verdad (2020) Sobre las amenazas a Juana Alicia Ruiz Hernandez, Communicados y declaraciones. Available at: https://comisiondelaverdad.co/actualidad/comunicados-y-declaraciones/sobre-las-amenazas-a-juana-alicia-ruiz-hernandez (Accessed: June 13, 2021).
Cruz, A.L.A. and Rojas Rivera, D.M. (2008) “El narcotráfico en Colombia. Pioneros y capos,” Historia y espacio, 4(31), pp. 1–7.
Datta, R. (2018) “Decolonizing both researcher and research and its effectiveness in Indigenous research,” Research Ethics, 14(2), pp. 1–24. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016117733296.
Escobar, A. (2004) “Desplazamientos, desarrollo y modernidad en el Pacífico colombiano,” in E. Restrepo and A. Rojas (eds.) Conflicto e (in)visibilidad. Retos en los estudios de la gente negra en Colombia. Cali: Editorial Universidad del Cauca, pp. 53–72.
Escobar, A. (2016) “Sentipensar con la Tierra: Las Luchas Territoriales y la Dimensión Ontológica de las Epistemologías del Sur,” AIBR, Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 11(1), pp. 11–32. Available at: https://doi.org/10.11156/aibr.110102.
Fals Borda, O. (2007) “La investigación acción en convergencias disciplinarias,” Lasaforum, 38(4), pp. 17–22. Available at: https://forum.lasaweb.org/files/vol38/LASAForum-Vol38-Issue4.pdf.
Fals-Borda, O. (1995) “Research for Social Justice: Some North-South Convergences.” Atlanta.
Fals-Borda, O. (2015) Una Sociologia Sentipensante para America Latina. Edited by V.M. Moncayo. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI Editores: CLACSO.
Fals-Borda, O. and Rahman, M. (1991) “A self-Review of PAR,” in O. Fals-Borda and M. Rahman (eds.) Action and Knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action-research. New York: The Apex Press, pp. 24–36.
Fiscalia General de la Nacion (2005) Ley 975, Diario Oficial 45980.
Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogía Del Oprimido. Segunda, Tierra Nueva. Segunda. Buenos Aires: Editorial Tierra Nueva. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.98.2.021.
Garzón Martínez, M.A. (2020) “Regresar por el camino viejo. Retornadas y reconstrucción de la vida en Los Montes de María,” LiminaR Estudios Sociales y Humanísticos, 19(1), pp. 88–100. Available at: https://doi.org/10.29043/liminar.v19i1.789.
Gaztambide-Fernández, R.A. (2012) “Decolonization and the pedagogy of solidarity,” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), pp. 41–67.
Glassman, M. and Erdem, G. (2014) “Participatory Action Research and Its Meanings: Vivencia, Praxis, Conscientization,” Adult Education Quarterly, 64(3), pp. 206–221. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713614523667.
Guerrero, B. (2019a) “Cantadoras del Pacífico: el poder de la voz convertido en resistencia,” Semana Rural, 31 July.
Guerrero, B. (2019b) “«Le cantamos a la posibilidad de vivir y convivir en paz», entrevista con Paola Navia,” Semana Rural, 31 July.
Heron, J. and Reason, P. (2008) “Extending epistemology within a co-operative inquiry,” in P. Reason and H. Bradbury (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Action Research. Participative Inquiry and Practice. SAGE Publications, pp. 366–380.
Kovach, M. (2009) Indigenous Methodologies. Characteristics, conversations, and context. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
LeGrand, C. (1997) “La politica y la violencia en Colombia (1946-1965): Interpretaciones en la Decada de los Ochenta,” Memoria y Sociedad, 2(4), pp. 79–109.
Louis, R.P. (2007) “Can you hear us now? Voices from the margin: Using indigenous methodologies in geographic research,” Geographical Research, 45(2), pp. 130–139. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00443.x.
Lozano-Lerma, B.R. (2017) “Pedagogías para la vida, la alegría y la re-existencia. Pedagogías de mujeresnegras que curan y vinculan,” in C. Walsh (ed.) Pedagogías Decoloniales. Prácticas insurgentes de resistir, (re)existir y (re)vivir. Tomo II. Quito: Ediciones Abya Yala, pp. 273–290.
Lozano-Mancera, N. (2017) “Entre la música y la resistencia: en busca del reconocimiento en el Festival Petronio Álvarez,” Revista Encuentros, 15(3), pp. 142–151. Available at: https://doi.org/10.15665/re.v15i3.1086.
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007) “On the coloniality of being,” Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), pp. 240–270. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548.
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2016) Outline of Ten Theses on Coloniality and Decoloniality, Foundation Frantz Fanon. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2011.5.6700.
Martinez, O.L. (2020) “La memorable travesía por el Pacífico en defensa del folclor,” El Tiempo, 4 April.
Medina Abad, M. (2021) “Cosiendo por la verdad y la memoria,” Semana Rural, 16 March.
Merçon, J. (2021) “Investigación transdisciplinaria e investigación-acción participativa. Convergencias, diferencias y nuevas perspectivas,” in Investigación transdisciplinaria e investigación-acción participativa. Conocimiento y acción para la transformación. Ciudad de México: Coplt-arXives, pp. 29–60.
Moreno-Cely, A. et al. (2021) “Breaking monologues in collaborative research: bridging knowledge systems through a listening based dialogue of wisdom approach,” Sustainability Science, 16(3), pp. 919–931. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00937-8.
Motta, S.C. (2021) “Decolonizing Our Feminist/ized Revolutions: Enfleshed Praxis from Southwest Colombia,” Latin American Perspectives, 48(4), pp. 124–142. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X211020748.
Muller, S. (2012) “‘Two ways’: Bringing Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Knowledges together,” in J.K. Weir (ed.) Country, Native Title and Ecology. ANU E Press, pp. 59–79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.22459/cnte.03.2012.
Museo Nacional de Colombia (2023) El Museo de Arte y Memoria de Mampuján pronto abrirá sus puertas. Available at: https://www.museonacional.gov.co/noticias/Paginas/Museo_Mampujan_abrira_sus_puertas.aspx (Accessed: October 15, 2025).
Niño Gonzalez, C. (2017) “Breve historia del conflicto armado en Colombia,” Revista de Paz y Conflictos, 10(1), pp. 327–330.
Oslender, U. (2003) “Discursos ocultos de resistencia,” Revista Colombiana de Antropologia, 39, pp. 203–235.
Oslender, U. (2004) “Geografías de terror y desplazamiento for- conceptualizando el problema y zado en el Pacífico colombiano: buscando respuestas,” in E. Restrepo and A. Rojas (eds.) Conflicto e (in)visibilidad. Retos en los estudios de la gente negra en Colombia. Cali: Editorial Universidad del Cauca, pp. 35–52.
Pérez Lugo, Y.A. and Díaz Escandón, L.G. (2017) “Represa Salvajina: lejos del desarrollo, cerca del olvido. 1985-2016,” Revista Controversia, (208), pp. 283–316. Available at: https://doi.org/10.54118/controver.vi208.1089.
Pinilla-Bahamón, A.M. (2017) “Alabaos y conflicto armado en el Chocó: noticias de supervivencia y reinvención,” Revista Encuentros, 15(3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.15665/re.v15i3.1096.
Quiceno-Toro, N., Ochoa-Sierra, M. and Villamizar, A.M. (2017) “La política del canto y el poder de las alabaoras de Pogue (Bojayá, Chocó),” Estudios Políticos (Medellín), (51), pp. 175–195. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.espo.n51a09.
Ramos Díaz Granados, J. (2018) “Tejemos para sanar y desmontar nuestra victimidad: Diálogo con Juana Alicia Ruíz Hernández, coordinadora de la Asociación Mujeres Tejiendo Sueños y Sabores de Mampuján,” Revista de Estudios Colombianos, 52, pp. 55–57.
Rathwell, K.J. and Armitage, D. (2016) “Art and artistic processes bridge knowledge systems about social-ecological change: An empirical examination with Inuit artists from Nunavut, Canada,” Ecology and Society, 21(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08369-210221.
Rhee, J. and Subedi, B. (2014) “Colonizing and Decolonizing Projects of Re/Covering Spirituality,” Educational Studies, 50(4), pp. 339–356. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2014.924941.
Riaño-Alcalá, P. and Chaparro-Pacheco, R. (2020) “Cantando el sufrimiento del río. Memoria, poética y acción política de las cantadoras del Medio Atrato chocoano,” Revista Colombiana de Antropologia, 56(2), pp. 79–110. Available at: https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X.793.
Rubio, T. (2012) Mampuján. Crónica de un desplazamiento. Colombia: Grupo Enmente.
Ruiz Hernandez, J.A. et al. (2016) Historias de dolor tejidas por la esperanza y el perdon. Colombia.
Ruiz Hernandez, J.A., Romero Sanchez, R.M. and Ladeus Teheran, A. (2019) MUJERES TEJEDORAS DE MAMPUJÁN. UN TEJIDO CON SABOR A PAZ. Universidad de Cartagena.
Ruiz, J.A. (2018) “Entrevista con Juana Alicia Ruiz. Tejedoras de Mampuján,” Integritas: Revista de Etica, 2, pp. 102–107.
Sáenz Rovner, E. (2009) “Ensayo sobre la historia del tráfico de drogas psicoactivas en Colombia entre los años 30 y 50,” Iberoamericana, 9(35), pp. 93–104. Available at: https://doi.org/10.18441/ibam.9.2009.35.93-104.
Sanabria Rodelo, A. (2018) “Las expresiones artísticas de las víctimas como mecanismo de reparación transformadora en Colombia. El caso de “las tejedoras de Mampuján",” Ciencia Jurídica, 7(13), p. 171. Available at: https://doi.org/10.15174/cj.v7i13.240.
Santis Vellojín, V. and Mira González, C.M. (2020) “El cuerpo de la mujer y sus representaciones en el conflicto armado interno en Colombia,” Ratio Juris, 15(31), pp. 519–544. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24142/raju.v15n31a10.
Santos, B. de S. (2014) Epistemologies of the South. Justice against epistemicide. New York: Paradigm. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00423.x.
Santos, B. de S. (2018) The end of the cognitive empire. The coming of age of epistemologies of the South. Durham: Duke University Press.
Smith, L.T. (2012) Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People. Second, Zed Books. Second. London; New York: Zed Books.
Steelman, T.A. et al. (2019) “Identifying transformational space for transdisciplinarity: using art to access the hidden third,” Sustainability Science, 14(3), pp. 771–790. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0644-4.
Styres, S. (2019) “Literacy of Land. Decolonizing Narratives, Storying, Literature,” in L.T. Smith, E. Tuck, and W.K. Yang (eds.) Indigenous and decolonizing Studies in Education. Mapping the Long View. New York: Routledge, pp. 24–37.
Unidad para la Atención y la Reparación Integral a las Víctimas (2021) Victimas conflicto armado, Resgistro Unico de Victimas. Available at: https://www.unidadvictimas.gov.co/es (Accessed: December 11, 2021).
Valenzuela-Fuentes, K. (2019) “Militant ethnography and autonomous politics in Latin America,” Qualitative Research, 19(6), pp. 718–734. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794118787712.
Vásquez-Fernández, A.M. and Ahenakew, C. (2020) “Resurgence of relationality: reflections on decolonizing and indigenizing ‘sustainable development,’” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 43, pp. 65–70. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2020.03.005.
Vázquez Piñeros, M. del R. (2007) “La Iglesia y la Violencia Bipartidista en Colombia (1946-1953). Análisis historiográfico,” Anuario de Historia de la Iglesia, 16, pp. 309–334.
Visvanathan, S. (2009) “The search for cognitive justice,” Social Science Nomad [Preprint]. Available at: http://www.india-seminar.com/2009/597.htm.
Wilson, S. (2008) Research is Ceremony. Indigenous Research Methos. Fernwood Publishing.
Zavala, M. (2016) “Decolonial Methodologies in Education,” Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7.
Ziai, A., Bendix, D. and Müller, F. (2020) “Decolonizing Knowledge Orders, Research Methodology and the Academia: An Introduction,” in D. Bendix, F. Müller, and A. Ziai (eds.) Beyond the Master’s Tools? Decolonizing Knowledge Orders, Research Methods and Teaching. Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 1–16.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2024 Adriana Moreno Cely