Everyday urban peace: Experiences from a marginalised neighbourhood in Cali, Colombia

Urban violence is a characteristic of urban living in both conflict and non-conflict settings. Its
experience is often highly uneven, with marginalised communities most acutely affected, meaning
that residents and organisations often have long experience of addressing conflict and violence.
However, these efforts are disconnected from formal conflict resolution processes, and remain
poorly understood in terms of constructing peace. Drawing on debates from peace and conflict
studies, human geography, and urban studies, this article proposes the concept of ‘everyday urban
peace’ as a framework for better understanding how marginalised urban communities respond to
conflict and violence. The article applies this framework in the context of a self-built neighbourhood
in Cali, Colombia, where poverty and violence intersect with racialised segregation. It explores local
residents’ experiences and perceptions of conflict, violence and peace, through a conjunctural
methodological approach focusing on three key moments in ‘post-conflict’ Colombia. We argue
that ‘everyday urban peace’ offers new analytical possibilities for better understanding community
responses to conflict and violence, by reframing the significance of their everyday activities for
peace while taking seriously both place and time in marginalised urban neighbourhoods. This has
implications for peace policy and practice, visibilising community efforts in pursuit of broadening the
spectrum of formal intervention for peace, particularly in urban settings which are often neglected
in these processes.