The Ones Who Put Their Chests in Front of the Bullets: A Microstructural Analysis of Colombia's Primera Línea and Their Path to Activism

In recent years, massive mobilizations have taken place worldwide as neoliberal governments fail to ensure democratic rights and basic living conditions. In Colombia in 2021, an event unprecedented in the last decade transformed the course of national policy. Thousands mobilized in a national strike that witnessed the formation of a new political actor: the Primeras Líneas. This article represents one of the first attempts to understand the formation and dynamics of these groups. Taking the Primera Línea of Puerto Resistencia in Cali as a case study and using narrative interviews, this study analyzes the factors and mechanisms shaping members' pathways to activism (i.e., political transformation). Treating these protests as eventful (della Porta 2008, 2020) and applying Fillieule's (2023) activist career model, this paper highlights three key findings. First, previous involvement in violent networks and contexts equipped actors with resources essential for participation in this contentious episode. Second, recruitment in Social Movement Organizations can occur spontaneously, relying on actors' individual traits and resources without preexisting organizational ties. Third, emotional and contextual factors influence how actors perceive risk and make decisions about engaging in action. This research examines the cognitive, affective, and relational effects of these protests in shaping Primera Línea members' subsequent perceptions of politics and political engagement.

近年来，随着新自由主义政府无法保障民主权利与基本生活条件，全球范围内爆发了大规模社会动员运动。2021年的哥伦比亚发生了一场近十年以来前所未有的事件，彻底改变了该国政策走向。数万名民众发起全国性罢工运动，期间催生了全新的政治行动主体：一线队伍（Primeras Líneas）。本文是首批探究此类群体形成过程与运作动态的研究之一。本研究以卡利市抵抗港（Puerto Resistencia）的一线队伍为案例，结合叙事访谈法，剖析了推动成员走向行动主义（即政治转型）的各类因素与作用机制。本研究将此类抗议视为"事件性抗争"（della Porta, 2008, 2020），并采用菲利厄尔（Fillieule, 2023）提出的行动主义生涯模型，最终得出三项核心研究发现：其一，此前参与暴力网络与暴力场域的经历，为行动者参与此次争议性抗争提供了必要的资源储备；其二，社会运动组织（Social Movement Organizations）的招募可自发进行，无需预先建立组织关联，仅依托行动者的个人特质与资源开展；其三，情感因素与情境因素会影响行动者对风险的认知，以及其参与抗争行动的决策逻辑。本研究还探讨了此次抗议活动在认知、情感与关系层面产生的影响，及其如何形塑一线队伍成员后续对政治与政治参与的认知。