Latin American Studies ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 5-16-2026

Abstract

This project examines how members of las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) utilized hunger-strikes and self-mutilation protests to challenge the state while incarcerated in Colombian penitentiaries. The thesis traces the history of FARC organizing in Colombian penitentiaries, the systemic violence and torture incarcerated guerrillas were subjected to, and how this systemic violence was resisted through corporeal politics. Specifically, this research focuses on how incarcerated FARC members, referred to as guerrillaprisoners, transformed their own bodies into weapons of bioresistance. Hunger strikes and selfmutilation protests such as lip-sewing are underscored as the basis of guerrilla carceral organizing, representing a militant political discipline and a severe and self-sacrificing commitment to bodily autonomy. This work is primarily based on interviews conducted with guerrilla-prisoners, and seeks to broaden how we conceptualize the weaponization of the body and the use of the body as a political tool among the armed left.

Language

English

Keywords

Colombia, FARC, Incarceration, Hunger-strikes, Lip-sewing, Biopolitics

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Latin American Studies

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Latin American Studies

Second Department

Latin American Studies

First Committee Member (Chair)

Les Field

Second Committee Member

Luis Herran Avila

Third Committee Member

Suzanne Oakdale

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Available for download on Tuesday, May 16, 2028

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