SOCIAL BELIEFS AND EMOTIONAL ORIENTATIONS ABOUT SOCIAL PROTEST IN ORDINARY CITIZENS IN SIX CITIES IN COLOMBIA

This present chapter aims to understand social beliefs and collective emotional orientations (CEO) about social protest in ‘ordinary citizens’, not belonging to social movements or political parties, without academic training on the subject. Using content analysis to analyse data from semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 185 participants from six cities in central Colombia: Medellín, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Armenia and Palmira, the findings show that there are significant differences in social beliefs about social protest, marchers, violence, the left and the Public Force, which vary depending on the ‘agree’, ‘disagree’ or ‘ambivalent’ position regarding this phenomenon. Thus, we identify the belief systems and CEO that generate social divisions which in turn are perceived as irreconcilable, hindering the exercise of rights and democracy, becoming a psychosocial barrier to peace.