Violence and Community Appropriations of Security and Justice in Mexico

Abstract

The article discusses the emergence of community responses to violence, characterized by the appropriation of security and justice. It proposes to understand these responses, as part of a continuum in risk management, which adopts multiple forms, from vigilant justice to armed self-defense. For this, it analyzes cases of lynching and the self-defense movement in Mexico. It proposes that in the current scenario of insecurity, groups and communities react defensively, going from spontaneous reactions to greater organization. This participation occurs in ambiguous scenarios between legal and illegal, and produce imaginary order that confront these zones of indistinction. The article discusses the relevance of the State Margin category to reflect the negotiations that the communities carry out with the State to establish community controls for safety regulation.