Constructing Authority Alternatives on the Periphery: Vignettes from Colombia

Current processes of globalization are transforming the world’s social and political geography by facilitating new socio-spatial configurations that are discontinuous with state territories and incompatible with the notion of exclusive authority. This article examines the emergence of alternative sociopolitical relationships in Colombia as a result of global changes, and considers how this development has affected the more elusive aspects of statehood, such as authority and legitimacy. While alternative orders can undermine what are often already precarious structures of domestic governance and authority, as the Colombian experience attests, new spheres of authority may in fact enhance state performance and legitimacy.