Scholar-activism in practice: researching FARC-EP reincorporation as a Colombian abroad

What roles can researchers play when scholarship and peace activism overlap? This forum contribution examines that question through my study of former FARC-EP combatants’ reincorporation, conducted as a Colombian researcher based in Germany. Drawing on feminist and decolonial perspectives, I reflect on how my insider—outsider positionality—shaped by nationality, geographic distance, privilege, and sustained engagement with interlocutors—shapes my scholar-activist practice. I identify key dilemmas this positionality produces: unequal access to resources and visibility; tensions between safeguarding interlocutors’ anonymity and amplifying marginalized voices; and the risk of being accused of romanticizing former combatants when contesting rigid victim/perpetrator binaries. I argue that research in contexts of ongoing violence is inherently political, yet scholar-activism and feminist scholarship can offer a productive space for reflexivity and accountability, producing situated, ethically responsible knowledge.