Emotions

E

MO

TIONS

DWELLING IS A LASTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPACES AND EMOTIONS,

UNFOLDING THROUGH EXPERIENCES AND ACTIONS

Emotions are experienced; they affect and are affected, dwelling within us as we dwell in them. They reveal much about both time and space. Through emotions, the past lingers on our bodies, while also opening up possibilities for different futures. Therefore, attachment, rootedness, and appropriation are essential components in the study of territory.

They are a force that accompanies action.

(Eva Illouz, 2006)

They are also relational, products of an ongoing social construction.

(David Le Breton, 2013)

And as public and political entities, they give rise to the formation of social actions.

(Martha Nussbaum, 2014)

Emotions construct a sentipensante (feeling-thinking) language; one that is capable of thinking while feeling and feeling while thinking. Reducing them to the assessment of a brain stimulus frames them merely as facts rather than as experiences tied to the spaces we inhabit. There is an implicit relationship between movement and connection, between being moved by something and being connected to it. This multicausal condition is what finds expression in the territory.

And when violence disrupts, emotions also transform. The relationships between emotions and territories are fluid, shifting between what they were, what they are, and what they may become. In this journey, they create a synergy with the territory, intertwining original emotions with those shaped by experience. Through this transit, they shape a new territoriality, building the potential for a future within the present moment.

the Emotions

expressed in the Territories

The collective nature of the emotions discussed here arises from the pain inflicted by armed conflict. Yet, because we only feel pain for what we care about, love and pain are always intertwined, reflecting the different temporalities of rootedness and uprooting.

This research identifies two main types of emotions that are inherently relational: continuous uprooting and feeling at home

Continuous Uprooting

Where is the pain located within the territories?

The struggle for territory has not just been about land; it has also been a fight for a place in the world; a right to exist in and with their territory. With each forced, ongoing, and permanent displacement, they have been compelled to continually redefine themselves in the face of uprooting.

The armed conflict has imposed violent pressure on the civilian population, leading not only to the ongoing forced displacement of peasants, Afro-descendant communities, and indigenous groups, but also to the intensive exploitation of the territory's natural welfare. This exploitation manifests through practices such as monoculture, extensive cattle ranching, extractive mining, and illicit crops.

These expressions leave scars on the territories and remnants within displaced communities, compelled to abandon their homes, shelters, crops, and emotional ties. They also inflict wounds on the dry, diverted, and contaminated rivers, as well as on the excavated and deforested mountains.

CONTINUOUS UPROOTING IS THE PRIMARY EMOTION

EXPERIENCED IN ARMED CONFLICT.

From this, other emotions emerge:

Click on the titles to view the information for each territory
Strip the place

Strip the place

These intertwined forms of violence have stripped bodies and memories of their connection to rivers, swamps, and mountains. When people are forced to leave their homes, they abandon not only their crops and productive practices but also the relationships they’ve built with the land. Leaving the place they inhabit means also leaving behind the swamp where they fish and the shores where they cultivate.

The pollution of rivers and the imposition of monoculture are also forms of dispossession. For example, the agricultural communities of Santa María de la Antigua and AETC Silver Vidal Mora face significant challenges when aggressive practices like cattle ranching or monoculture invade their lands. These changes disrupt traditional production systems, limiting opportunities for exchange and cultivation, and profoundly affect their culture—shaping everything from daily culinary practices to how they perceive and interact with their landscape.

Isolation

Isolation

Isolation is an action that obstructs connection with others, diminishing the ability to engage in the present and envision a future. This emotion is particularly evident among young people, who often feel suspended by the uncertainty of their daily possibilities. The dynamics of armed conflict offer them very few opportunities, resulting in a pervasive sense of hopelessness as they grow up.

Upon completing primary school, those who wish to continue their education must relocate to other towns. Often, this is not feasible due to high transportation costs or a lack of support for housing. Paradoxically, staying behind means losing the opportunity to further their studies. Yet leaving—abandoning their families, swamps, and homes—appears to be the only path to education. It feels as though they are condemned to a life of uprooting.

Living on the swamp itself is a constraint, as they must navigate through the water to move. However, isolation also manifests territorially in the lack of educational and cultural infrastructure, which prevents them from connecting with other worlds, dreams, and passions.

Feeling at home

Body, place and objects

The home, our corner of the world, is where thoughts, feelings, memories, and desires come together. Within it, memory and imagination remain intertwined. Therefore, understanding it as merely a physical object diminishes its ontological complexity and the material and immaterial relationships that define it.

Every truly inhabited space carries within it the essence of the notion of home

(Gaston Bachelard, 2000)

The home

is the first extension

of the body into space

Feeling at home is a blend of love, joy, and hope; it is a complex emotion rooted in a place filled with memories, people, and cherished dreams. This is why no two loves or, in this case, no two homes, are the same; each possesses its own unique material and immaterial expressions. Key characteristics include the desire to stay, the resistance to leave, the longing to return, and the recurring memories; all of which embody emotions with spatial dimensions.

Feeling at home is another main emotion. From this, other emotions emerge:

Click on the titles to view the information for each territory
Permanence

Permanence

It is an emotion rooted in the post-agreement context. “I won’t leave here because my dead are here,” said Úrsula Iguarán, a character from One Hundred Years of Solitude. Today, a hundred signatories of the Agreement at AETCR Silver Vidal Mora affirm, “I won’t leave here because my hope is here.” While their past may be absent, their present is vibrant, offering the possibility of a different future. Here, they do not flee; here, they choose to remain.

For those who have spent most of their lives in motion, the Peace Agreement now offers the opportunity to resist collectively as signatories, replacing the nomadism of war with the chance to build a sense of belonging and ownership. Today, they have the chance to reconnect with their families, embrace their roles as mothers and fathers, return to their homes, and engage with neighboring communities without the mediation of weapons.

Permanence is an emotion rooted in projection, offering them the possibility of a future amid so much uncertainty.

Rootedness

Rootedness

Rootedness can be understood as the sense of place that connects spaces, people, and contexts. Individuals integrate their history, embody it, and construct their own habitus;a historically built system of relationships that accounts for the collective social practices expressed in space.

“The true black person belongs to their water, those of the water are water, that’s why they call us the people of the water" This means that water is a foundational sign of their identity, grounding them in the world because fishing and Marriaga are one and the same territory. Similarly, when they say, " I was born and originally from Chocó, proudly Chocó,"it reflects their deep connection to historic places like Santa María de la Antigua del Darién.”

Appropriation

Appropriation

Appropriation is a continuous action, inherently present, that links one's existence to the territory. It embodies an emotion that conveys a sense of ownership over space, with the home being its primary expression. The home acts as a mediator between the built environment, cultural practices, and modes of production. Furthermore, it is closely connected to the formation of family, as one evolves and grows, the other inevitably transforms alongside it.

Expressions like “Triganá is my beloved homeland”, or “Gilgal is my hidden paradise” do more than place us in a geographic location (living in); they imbue it with meaning, making it unique and personal (living with). These statements reflect an emotional affinity for the place one inhabits. Similarly, when people in the AETCR choose to transform their homes, adapt them, and cultivate their surroundings—filling them with objects and significance—they are creating a sense of belonging, even amidst the uncertainty of whether they will stay or leave.

It also implies a constant movement, a reappropriation of events.

  • “What has changed over these seven years?”  I asked Elodia, a peace signatory.
  • “The household chores. It's a lot of work, and it never ends. Before, I didn’t have to manage a home, sweep, or cook every day. In the forest, we all shared the responsibilities.”  Yet, despite her complaints, she added, “But I don’t want to leave because I would have to leave my home.”

In Gilgal, for instance, the youth have reappropriated a history of violence within their community. During workshops, as they painted the entrance of the school, they would say, “The red color honors the grave diggers' school.”In that era of violence, teacher Guillermo would call upon his older students to help him bury the bodies scattered throughout the village. This narrative is conveyed in the third person, reflecting what they have learned from their parents, grandparents, and neighbors.

Bibliography

The Atlas of Emotions is a result of the research: Territorial Expressions of Grieving in the Bajo Atrato. Why are emotions important for territories? The Atlas represents a system of non-evident relationships centered on grieving. It serves as a reflective process that enables an understanding of territories through the lens of collectively expressed emotions in spatial contexts.

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