The Great Neoliberal War: Conflict in Contemporary Mexico

Abstract

In the past decades, Mexico has hosted one of the world’s deadliest internal conflicts. There are few global parallels to the scale of killing, disappearances, mass graves, feminicides, kidnappings, extortion, murder of social activists and violence against journalists. Predominant interpretations and governmental narratives cast Mexico’s conflict as owing fundamentally to state weakness and criminal organizations bidding to control drug flows. This article advances a different interpretation. Drawing from structuralist perspectives, the article underscores the extensive criminogenic dynamics set in motion by Mexico’s radical commitment to neoliberal transformation. Similarly, the article underlines the extent to which violence in many cases transpires less from drug conflicts than the creation of new export markets and new commodity chains. Turned invisible by a ‘Drug War’ narrative, Mexico represents a powerful lens into the social violence generated by and paving the way towards our neoliberal futures.