Sharing community life after a civil war: Intergroup contact and social distance

Research shows that person-to-person contact is associated with a reduction in the levels of social distance between otherwise divided groups. In this study, we explore whether this association holds in immediate post-civil war contexts when the reconstruction of social links is challenging. Using original data from 1228 face-to-face surveys collected in Colombian municipalities where former FARC-EP guerrilla fighters have been reintegrated since 2017, we explore how socially distant civilians perceive the ex-combatants. Our statistical results suggest that contact is associated with less intergroup social distance, despite the length of the armed conflict and the fact that the municipalities for collective reintegration processes were selected without prior consultation. Zooming in on one municipality, we identify three key forms of intergroup cooperation that seem to have facilitated the reduction of social distance. Our results have relevant policy implications for conflict and post-conflict settings.