HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Human Rights Quarterly 31 (2009) 1–34 © 2009 by The Johns Hopkins University Press Reconstructing Masculinities: The Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Colombia Kimberly Theidon* ABSTRACT A key component of peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction is the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants. I argue that DDR programs imply multiple transitions: from the combatants who lay down their weapons, to the governments that seek an end to armed conflict, to the communities that receive—or reject—these demobilized * Kimberly Theidon is a medical anthropologist focusing on Latin America. Her research interests include political violence, forms and theories of subjectivity, transitional justice, and human rights. From 2001–2003 she directed a research project on community mental health, reparations, and the micro-politics of reconciliation with the Ayacuchan office of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A book based upon this research, Intimate Enemies: Violence and Reconciliation in Peru, is forthcoming with Stanford University Press. Dr. Theidon is currently conducting research in Colombia and Ecuador on two interrelated themes: the causes and consequences of populations in displacement, refuge, and return, with a particular interest in the role of humanitarian organizations in zones of armed con- flict, and the demobilization and reintegration process in Colombia. She is the director of Praxis: An Institute for Social Justice and is an assistant professor of Anthropology at Harvard University. I thank the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs for the funding that has made possible my research in Colombia. I benefited from comments I received on a draft of this article during the “Transitional Justice and DDR” meeting hosted by the ICTJ, 22–23 May 2007. I particularly thank Marcelo Fabre, Ana Patel, and Pablo de Grieff for their insightful suggestions. Additionally, I thank my colleagues Gonzalo Sanchez, Catherine Lutz, Kedron Thomas, Andrew Canessa, Winifred Tate, and Melanie Adrian for their comments. I am grateful to Paola Andrea Betancourt for her research assistance in Colombia. Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to the many Colombians who have shared their time and experiences with me and with whom I share a tenacious optimism regarding the possibility of peace with justice.