Paper short abstract:

This paper utilizes Michael Warner’s theories of publics and counterpublics to explore how Mexican drug cartels rely on a “reflexive circulation of discourse” to establish the social space to legitimize their conduct and how this new normality of violence affects socio-political behavior.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, violence related to the so-called Mexican Drug War has escalated to unprecedented levels in quantitative and qualitative terms. As cartels seek to undermine the sovereignty of the Mexican State, they convey their message of social control to the public by utilizing various mediums of communication, such as banners (narcomantas), films (narcocine), commissioned ballads celebrating their violent acts (narcocorridos), and corpse messaging, which involves leaving threatening and signatory messages on or around the bodies of their victims. Cartels use intimidation and brutality to scare the public into complicity, paralyzing its will to act by making violence a pertinent presence in quotidian Mexican life.

This ever-present threat of brutality makes for an interesting relationship between the cartels and Mexican citizens. Some people attempt to impede new trends of violence through community-centered protests, organizations, and education. In a sort of massive case of Stockholm syndrome, other citizens revere their social captors, or at least view them as the better of two evils, recognizing the criminal organizations as more legitimate authoritative figures than the Mexican officials. The propaganda of the narcoculture industry perpetuates this reverence by framing cartel members as modern-day Robin Hoods who contest the hegemonic entities of neoliberal societies, namely the Mexican and United States governments.

This paper brings in Michael Warner's theories of publics and counterpublics to explore how cartels rely on the "reflexive circulation of discourse" of propaganda to establish the social space to legitimize their conduct and how this new normality of violence affects socio-political behavior.