Peasant Memory and Collective Reconstruction: Social Appropriation of Knowledge with the Municipal Association of Peasant Users (AMUC) of Pradera, Valle del Cauca
Description
This work paper presents the results of a Social Appropriation of Knowledge (SAC) exercise derived from the research project Politics of Memory, from the Global to the Local: Construction of Local Memories of the Colombian Armed Conflict in the AMUC Association of Pradera (Valle) (INV3205), developed by the Cooperative University of Colombia. The process was carried out with the Municipal Association of Peasant Users (AMUC), with the purpose of strengthening community capacities for the reconstruction of social memory and the re-signification of experiences of armed conflict. Using the memory work methodology, spaces for dialogue, recovery of oral histories, collective reconstruction of the organization’s history, and participatory feedback were created. Findings reveal that peasant memory is a tool for resistance, dignity, and identity reaffirmation, transcending institutional narratives that often frame memory merely as symbolic reparation.
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The memory work approach is grounded in critical and feminist qualitative traditions, originally developed by Frigga Haug and collaborators in the 1980s. This method assumes that memory is not an individual reconstruction of the past but a social, situated, and political process through which people collectively construct meanings about their lived experiences. In this sense, memory work seeks to understand how individuals remember, what narratives they produce, and how dimensions such as power, class, territory, and historical context are embedded in their accounts (Haug, 1987). From this perspective, memory is understood as a social practice that links personal experience with collective processes, allowing researchers to explore how subjective experiences are embedded within broader cultural and historical frameworks. Thus, memory work becomes both a research and social action tool, since reconstructing shared memories generates spaces for critical reflection, collective agency, and the social appropriation of knowledge. Methodological Procedures The memory work process used in the research project “Politics of Memory” conducted by the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia was organized into several complementary stages: Formation of the participant group: Members of the Municipal Association of Peasant Users (AMUC) of Pradera, Valle del Cauca, were invited to participate as co-researchers in reconstructing their collective memories. The participants represented different generations of peasants linked to the organization. Production of memory narratives: Participants wrote short narratives about pre-defined topics such as life in the countryside, territorial transformations, experiences of violence, and strategies of resistance and organization. Each narrative was written in the first person, maintaining the author’s voice and linguistic style without initial correction or mediation. Collective reading and analysis: The group later read and discussed the narratives collectively in workshop sessions. This stage focused on identifying recurring themes, silences, metaphors, and emotions, rather than verifying the factual accuracy of the memories. The analysis sought to understand how meanings of the past are produced, negotiated, and shared within the community. Knowledge feedback and social appropriation: The results were shared with the community through public meetings and dialogic encounters. These spaces encouraged collective reflection and the co-creation of communicative outputs such as audiovisual testimonies, community narratives, and artistic materials. This phase corresponds to the Social Appropriation of Knowledge (SAK) component, as defined by Colombia’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Minciencias), which promotes the participation of communities in the production, interpretation, and circulation of scientific knowledge.
Institutions
- Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia