From the analysis of the varying role of the notion of dispossession in the struggle for land and territory among popular sectors of the Andean Nariño Department, the article reflects on the ideological —moral and conceptual— dimensions of that notion, and their historical and productive nature. I develop three theoretical arguments around the notion of dispossession: first, its use involves a narrative according to which a given subject is unfairly deprived of their right to enjoy a particular good as a result of the arbitrary action of another. Second, it’s an ideologically mediated notion, rooted in particular conceptions of reality and justice. Thirdly, its history is not independent of social disputes over the conditions of access to different types of goods, as well as over its circulation and distribution among individuals inscribed in different social categories, thus being both a product and an instrument of such disputes.  https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X40