The Dramaturgy of Security and the Post-farcarization of Violence after the Signing of the Peace Agreement in Colombia

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of post-farcarization to explain the structural transformation of the security field in
Colombia following the signing of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP. The central hypothesis argues that,
in the context of armed actor fragmentation and the loss of a unifying antagonist, the Colombian state has deployed a
dramaturgy of security as a compensatory mechanism aimed at producing symbolic coherence and narrative stability.
Methodologically, the study relies on process tracing and documentary analysis of the security architectures under the
administrations of Juan Manuel Santos, Iván Duque, and Gustavo Petro. The analysis identifies three key shifts: (1) a
transition from a relatively bounded insurgent threat to a fragmented constellation of hybrid armed actors; (2) increasing
doctrinal indeterminacy within the security framework; and (3) the expansion of performative indicators as substitutes
for definitive strategic achievements. The findings suggest that in the post-agreement phase, security policy is no longer
organized around the defeat of a structured enemy, but rather around the symbolic management of persistent and
polymorphous violence. The article contributes to the post-conflict security literature by linking structural indeterminacy
and state performativity through a traceable causal mechanism.