Criminal Enterprises and Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Through an examination of violent neighborhoods this book shows how criminals affect local politics in Colombia, Brazil, and Jamaica.

Enrique Desmond Arias (Author)

9781107153936, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 March 2017

303 pages, 4 b/w illus. 21 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.59 kg

This book examines security in three cities that suffer from chronic violence: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Medellin, Colombia; and Kingston, Jamaica. In each, democratic states contend with subnational armed groups that dominate territory and play important roles in politics even as they contribute to fear and insecurity. Through a nested three-city, six-neighborhood analysis of the role of criminal groups in governance, this research provides a deep understanding of the impact of crime on political experience. Neighborhoods controlled by different types of armed actors, operating in the same institutional context, build alliances with state officials and participate in political life through the structures created by these armed actors. The data demonstrates the effects criminal dominance can have on security, civil society, elections, and policymaking. Far from reflecting a breakdown of order, varying types of criminal groups generate different local lived political experiences.

Introduction. Conflict and governance patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean
1. Constellations of governance: theoretical approaches to micro-level armed regimes
2. Poverty, popular incorporation, and armed groups in Latin America and the Caribbean
3. The structure of micro-level armed regimes
4. Security systems in areas subject to micro-level armed regimes
5. Armed groups, civil society, and social mobilization
6. The impact of armed dominance on elections
7. Policy process amid armed organizations
Conclusion. Things change (and they stay the same): understanding the politics of micro-level armed regimes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political corruption [JPZ], Geopolitics [JPSL], Politics & government [JP], Drugs trade / drug trafficking [JKVG], Causes & prevention of crime [JKVC], Social services & welfare, criminology [JK]