The meanings of ‘recovery’: grassroots perspectives from Colombia and Peru in the aftermath of the pandemic

Few, Roger, Garrido, Hellen Cristancho, Ulfe, María Eugenia, Trelles, Abdul and Tebboth, Mark G. L. (2025) The meanings of ‘recovery’: grassroots perspectives from Colombia and Peru in the aftermath of the pandemic. New Area Studies. pp. 1-48. ISSN 2633-3716

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Abstract

This article presents a critical reflection on the meaning of crisis recovery, as experienced from the grassroots. It draws insights from a programme of research with indigenous and campesino communities in Colombia and Peru, undertaken in the period following the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a flexible, qualitative approach, the teams engaged in broad-ranging discussions about people’s concerns and aspirations. These exchanges revealed how people’s pandemic stories were inherently interconnected with other, ongoing and everyday risks associated with conflict, marginalization, poverty, displacement and environmental degradation. They also underlined how misconceived it can be to view the pandemic experience as some form of break from ‘normality’, externalizing the notion of crisis in a way that fails to acknowledge the historic and structural roots of risk and vulnerability. On the other hand, we also saw how capacities for coping with the crisis were already embedded in communities, partly as a consequence of long-faced injustices, reflected for example in the resurgence of communal care and indigenous practices. These perspectives conveyed a conception of recovery not as a linear or individualized trajectory, but as a multifaceted collective process that seeks to confront the dynamics of ongoing risks and injustices.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	We owe tremendous gratitude to the many people we worked with in our case study communities in Florencia, La Montañita, San Jerónimo, Shankivironi and in the organization OMIAASEC. Their engagement and enthusiasm was the bedrock for this article, together with the dedicated efforts of the research team members who contributed to data collection at these sites: Victoria Lugo Agudelo, Alejandra López Getial, Shaden Silva Camacho, Bruno Sanstede, Laura Ortiz, Teresa Armijos Burneo, Roxana Vergara, Iris Jave, Ariana Gárate, Andrea Luna, Andrea Segovia, and Roberto Sánchez.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development) University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Area Studies Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Climate Change Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Global Environmental Justice Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Health and Disease Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Migration Research Network
Related URLs:	https://doi.org/10.37975/NAS.91
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	18 May 2026 11:44
Last Modified:	18 May 2026 11:44
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103068
DOI:	10.37975/NAS.91

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