FORMER INSURGENTS LEAD ECO-TOURS: THE REACH OF GLOBALIZATION

Something extraordinary is happening in remote regions of Colombia. Former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are offering eco-tours to internationals in former conflict zones where they’ve lived and fought for decades. Many have spent most of their lives fighting the Colombian army and paramilitary groups to maintain geographic and social control of rural regions throughout the country. Where once they launched down cliffs with tree vines during combat, they now guide tourists to cavern floors equipped with rope and safety harnesses (Otis 2021).

Chapter 3 introduced the civil war of Colombia, fueled by deep class inequalities. During a good part of the 50-year conflict, the Andean mountain, plains, and rainforest regions that former FARC members controlled were considered dangerous areas for travelers. During that era, the FARC took hostages to fund their campaign and pressure the government to release imprisoned rebels.

After peace accords were signed in 2016 between the FARC and the Colombian government, former combatants began to offer rappelling, trekking, rafting, and educational programs to share their lives and experiences during the war. Because they know the land and its resources so well, former FARC soldiers make for exceptional tour guides.

Listen to the 5-minute story of one group’s new business: “Tourists in Colombia Can Now Take Jungle Hikes with Ex-FARC Guerrilla Guides” [Website] (figure 4.1). As you do, consider what you have learned about social change in the first three chapters:

• What national changes do you imagine have transpired to allow FARC soldiers to find such a different place in society?
• What global changes can you imagine have paved their way?
• What social changes are they contributing to as they build their tour operations?

These inquiries and this story exemplify well how globalization plays a role in social change. Globalization is the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations due to cross-national exchanges of goods and services, technology, investments, people, ideas, and information.

In this chapter, we’ll explore how social change dynamics play a role in scenarios like these. Through the lens of globalization, we’ll examine how global inequality exists, how it is measured, and how countries are categorized or ranked according to that inequality. We’ll focus on the two dimensions of inequality seen globally: inequality between countries and inequality within countries. This chapter will encourage you to ask questions about global relationships.

• How can we see global inequality from a perspective that puts people at the center?
• What role does power play in creating global inequality?
• How is inequality and inequity experienced by people around the world?
• How is global inequality influenced by social location?

Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Story

Open Content, Original

“Chapter Story” by Aimee Samara Krouskop is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Open Content, Shared Previously

Figure 4.1. Photo of Woman Rappelling by Riccardo Pitzalis is licensed under the Pexels License (right).

All Rights Reserved Content

Figure 4.1. Screenshot image of podcast from National Public Radio website is included under fair use (left).

Figure 4.1. “Tourists in Colombia Can Now Take Jungle Hikes with Ex-FARC Guerrilla Guides” by National Public Radio (NPR) is included under fair use.