The Tyranny of Narco‐Power: Political Rule and Austere Domination in Michoacán, Mexico

Abstract

This article analyzes narco-power as a mode of political rule. Based on research in the Mexican state of Michoacán, this study focuses on rural villagers' experiences of political rule by three criminal organizations: the Zetas, Familia Michoacana, and Caballeros Templarios. The article argues that narco-power is understood as a tyrannical political force exercised over everyday life that involves extortion, limited governance, and armed social control. Drawing on Aristotle's theorization of tyranny, this study develops the concept of austere domination as a contribution to the comparative study of the tyrannies of narco-power. [organized crime, narco-power, tyranny, political rule, Mexico] R e s u m e n Este artículo analiza el narcopoder como un modo de dominio político. Derivado de una investigación en el estado mexicano de Michoacán, este estudio se centra en las experiencias de un pueblo rural del dominio político de tres organizaciones criminales: Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacana y Los Caballeros Templarios. El artículo afirma que el narcopoder se entiende como una fuerza política tiránica ejercida sobre la vida cotidiana que involucra extorsión, gobernanza limitada y control social armado. Utilizando la teoría de tiranía elaborada por Aristóteles, este estudio desarrolla el concepto de la dominación austera para contribuir al estudio comparativo de las tiranías del narcopoder. [crimen organizado, narcopoder, tiranía, dominio político, México]

Narco‐Infrastructures and the Persistence of Illicit Coca in Loreto

“…After five decades, the sustained impact of the failing War on Drugs is evident across the Americas. The widespread effects of this war are manifest in various forms, including the plague of mass incarceration across the United States (Alexander 2020), cartel domination (Mendoza this issue ) and the growth of narco‐land grabs across Mexico and Central America (McSweeney et al. 2014), US‐backed coca eradication schemes across Andean/Amazonian South America (Grisaffi and Ledebur 2016), and the violent “pacification” of drug‐trafficker controlled favelas in Brazil (Larkins 2013).…”

“…99Not all drug trafficking organizations are invested in infrastructural projects and the cultivation of long‐term political loyalties, however. See Mendoza (this issue) for a comparative perspective on the austere domination of cartels in Michoacán.…”