Navigating the Uncertainties of Sustainable Peace: The Role of Ontological Security Amid Narrative Change and “Total Peace” in Colombia

This article examines the capacity for narrative change amid peace processes in Colombia. The Total Peace agenda, introduced by President Gustavo Petro, involved a narrative shift that framed peasant communities as victims of systemic inequalities to advance sustainable peace. However, this attempt at change sat uneasily with how violence was increasing in the country. It evokes how attention to narratives has increased in scholarship on environmental peacebuilding, yet remains underexplored. To develop this, I draw on recent developments in ontological security studies (OSS) to examine the narrative change in the context of how deforestation is governed in Colombia. I particularly highlight that while change often involves anxiety, the discomfort of uncertainty, it can be enabled or constrained depending on whether anxieties are faced or avoided. Previous research on environmental peacebuilding highlights how narrative change must contend with dominant power structures and deeply rooted conflictual identities. By contrast, this article highlights how change also depends on how people manage their desire for narrative coherence amid the uncertainty of peace processes.