Lessons in Peacebuilding: What Colombia Can Teach Ukraine

This is the first episode of our third season. It feels as if we only started yesterday, yet this is already the third academic year that our Studio on Central and Eastern Europe brings you conversations on the latest research about the region. 

In this episode, we draw connections that may surprise many listeners: What can Colombia’s experience with conflict teach Ukraine? And what does transitional justice in Latin America share with the post-conflict processes of Central and Eastern Europe? 

Stephan Parmentier, professor of criminology and human rights at KU Leuven, speaks with Fernando Serrano-Amaya, a Colombian scholar whose work bridges peacebuilding, social policy, and the politics of reconciliation. Serrano-Amaya holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and has taught and conducted research in Australia, Colombia, and beyond. His work examines youth and gender-based violence, masculinities, and queer peacebuilding, and he recently co-edited a special issue on the subject in the Revista de Estudios Sociales. 

Together, Stephan Parmentier and Jose Fernando Serrano-Amaya discuss the main pillars of transitional justice, while tracing how violence and justice shift and take new forms during and after violent conflict.