Discursive cartographies and social fabric: Network analysis in the collective reparation of rural communities in Colombia

Abstract

This article analyzes the collective reparation process in the village of El Chontaduro (Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia), a rural community impacted by internal armed conflict since the 1980s. Using a qualitative methodology with a phenomenological and interpretive approach, narratives from community leaders are gathered to understand the meanings attributed to the reparation process implemented by the Victims Unit. The analysis focuses on the formation of community discursive networks that help identify how the social fabric is reconstructed through language, memory, and symbolic practices. The study is theoretically grounded in concepts such as sense of community, nosotredad, social fabric, and reterritorialization, articulated around a relational territory perspective. Through examining the discursive structures present in the interviews, patterns of shared meaning emerge that account for processes of re-signification of territory and the recovery of emotional and organizational ties. The emerging semantic networks reflect the transformation of collective identity and the development of new forms of social organization. The results demonstrate that collective reparation, beyond its material components, becomes a venue for creating new narratives, strengthening the sense of belonging, and envisioning future horizons. In this sense, the article proposes understanding reparation as a process of community discourse production, where discursive networks represent the symbolic framework for reconstructing the social fabric in post-conflict rural contexts.