Parenting under violence: comparing rural-urban coping and everyday peace strategies in Antioquia, Colombia

Abstract

Caring practices are an area of growing interest in feminist debates on violence and are increasingly recognised as key strategies of everyday peacebuilding. Yet, among different caring strategies, parenting has rarely been analysed as a dimension of reproductive labour that is both shaped by violence while also framing the possibilities of coexisting and coping with armed and criminal actors. Drawing on an ethnographic comparison of parenting in two municipalities (Medellín and Tarazá) under paramilitary and criminal control in Antioquia, Colombia, this article explores the relationship between violence and everyday parenting choices. Although violence similarly affects parenting concerns, contextual differences linked to the nature of violence and available economic opportunities shape distinct risks and coping strategies in each location. This analysis contributes to broadening feminist understandings of care, and particularly parenting, in violent contexts.