State fragmentation and citizen education: creating a culture of citizenship in Bogotá, Colombia

My dissertation is an ethnography of governance in Colombia. I argue that despite widespread understandings of the Colombian state as failed, it actually plays an important role in the everyday lives of citizens. I argue that the Colombian state continues to govern through two key mechanisms:1. the rapid construction of state institutions and policies that clutter symbolic and physical space 2. the education of citizens such that they learn to be active participants in providing services traditionally forthcoming from the state, like security and justice. I explore how these interconnected processes of state and citizen formation are articulated through citizen culture, a novel crime reduction policy that has turned the capital city of Bogotá into an international model of best governance practices.Ph.D.Includes abstractVitaby Stacey Leigh HuntIncludes bibliographical reference