Human Rights and Common Goods. Socio-Environmental Conflicts in Colombia

Abstract

This article explains the emergence of Colombia local and regional communities’ collective action for human rights associated with the defense of the common good and healthy environment. They have configured a new cycle of protests that have pushed for a protective legislation and jurisprudence of the environment, producing legal effects in the defense of their rights. First, we present the theoretical discussion about common goods and its relation to human rights; second, we analyze the Colombian context of territorial adjustment through violence for the extractive economic dynamics; finally, we explain the centrality of collective action framing the defense of common goods and the environment within the repertoire of human rights and its legal effects.