Beyond The Drug War In Mexico: Human Rights, The Public Sphere And Justice

Description

This volume aims to go beyond the study of developments within Mexico’s criminal world and their relationship with the state and law enforcement. It focuses instead on the nature and consequences of what we call the ‘totalization of the drug war’, and its projection on other domains which are key to understanding the nature of Mexican democracy. The volume brings together chapters written by distinguished scholars from Mexico and elsewhere who deal with three major questions: what are the main features of and forces behind the persistent militarization of the drug war in Mexico, and what are the main consequences for human rights and the rule of law; what are the consequences of these developments on the public sphere and, more specifically, on the functioning of the press and freedom of expression; and how do ordinary people engage with the effects of violence and insecurity within their communities, and which initiatives and practices of ‘justice from below’ do they develop to counter an increased sense of vulnerability, suffering and impunity? Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Table of Contents......Page 6 List of tables......Page 8 List of contributors......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Abbreviations and acronyms......Page 11 Militarisation, totalisation, or ‘What else could we talk about?’......Page 12 Reading the war on drugs......Page 14 The United States, drug war policies and human rights......Page 18 Journalism, the public sphere and social media......Page 22 Justice from below......Page 25 Conclusions......Page 30 Notes......Page 32 Bibliography......Page 34 PART I: Securitization, militarization and human rights......Page 42 1. U.S. pressure and Mexican anti-drugs efforts from 1940 to 1980: Importing the war on drugs?......Page 44 The criminalization of the addict: a (trans)national policy......Page 45 International pressure and the first eradication campaigns in Mexico......Page 48 The road to militarization: the PGR and its bureaucracy......Page 53 Operation Intercept and the official beginning of the war on drugs......Page 54 Aerial eradication campaigns and the joint operations of the 1970s......Page 55 Conclusion......Page 58 Bibliography......Page 59 Transition to democracy and the rise of drug violence......Page 64 The opening of the cocaine transit economy and changes in drug related violence......Page 66 The logic of criminal war......Page 68 The vortex of violence......Page 73 Bibliography......Page 81 3. Effects of militarization in the name of counter-narcotics efforts and consequences for human rights in Mexico......Page 87 A human rights crisis......Page 88 Impunity and generalized violence......Page 90 The drug war and erosion of human rights......Page 93 Militarization NAFTA-style......Page 95 Defining militarization......Page 98 Human rights on hold......Page 101 Bibliography......Page 102 PART II: The public sphere and the press under siege......Page 106 Introduction......Page 108 Fear, violence and impunity in Culiacán, Sinaloa......Page 110 A game of elites: freedom of expression in Monterrey, Nuevo León......Page 112 Freedom of the press in Mexico City......Page 113 Michoacán: freedom of expression in a ‘failed’ state.......Page 115 Authoritarianism and corporativism against freedom of expression in Chiapas......Page 117 Bibliography......Page 119 5. State of denial: Crime reporting and political communication in Sonora......Page 122 Irony, objectivity and watchdog reporting (2003–2009)......Page 123 Self-censorship, deference and homogenization (2009–2015)......Page 127 Conclusion and epilogue......Page 132 Notes......Page 133 Bibliography......Page 134 Introduction......Page 137 Human rights......Page 138 Digital communications......Page 141 The ‘war on drugs’ and its victims......Page 143 Movement for Peace and Justice with Dignity (MPJD)......Page 145 Ayotzinapa......Page 147 Human rights and digital communication......Page 148 Conclusions......Page 152 Bibliography......Page 154 PART III: Justice and reconciliation from below......Page 158 Introduction......Page 160 Only law and disorder?......Page 161 Against the fetishisation of the Constitution......Page 167 Bibliography......Page 173 Combing the ground......Page 175 What kind of country is this? The administration of suffering, terror and impunity......Page 176 Ethnography at the foot of a grave......Page 179 Clandestine graves and anguished suffering......Page 181 Truth and justice?......Page 182 The healing and destabilising effect of exhumations......Page 185 The unsettling consequences of exhumation......Page 188 After the search......Page 191 Notes......Page 192 Bibliography......Page 193 Index......Page 196