Symposium on violence in Mexico

A hybrid symposium organised by Prof María López, deputy director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, London Metropolitan University.

Mexico is experiencing an escalation of violence, with a high incidence of kidnappings, murders, femicides, disappearances, armed assaults and street shootings. Over the past few years, the crisis of violence has spread throughout the country, leading to the temporary deployment of soldiers, marines and national police in previously quiet places, as well as an exodus of people fleeing north in the hope of crossing to the other side (Gramlich 2024).

To the more than 30,000 homicides registered in 2023 (Inegi 2024) must be added the unreported or unregistered cases of violence against undocumented migrants, for whom there is little data and whose bodies are often not claimed (López et al 2024). Much of this violence is linked to the growth of drug trafficking. However, the phenomenon intersects with corruption and structural poverty, machista ideology, and the neglect and lack of state resources (Estévez 2018). The involvement of the authorities is highly problematic as they are often perceived as a source of violence, creating mistrust among the population (García Flores 2021).

None of this seems to have led to any significant reflection at the highest levels of the government, which has continued to implement harsher measures in order to maintain good relations with the new administration of President Trump, a key security partner for Mexico.

In this symposium, a group of scholars present their research on the crisis of violence in Mexico, with the aim of shedding light on an enormously complex phenomenon.

Speakers and abstracts

DR. KARINA GARCÍA-REYES - Lecturer in Criminology at UWE Bristol

Title: The violence of uncertainty: The Multiple Struggles of Searching Groups in Mexico

This presentation, based on qualitative interviews with women involved in search efforts in the state of Jalisco, will explore the various forms of violence encountered by the families of the disappeared, particularly women, during their search processes. It will examine how these families face multiple layers of violence, including institutional violence, where local authorities often re-victimise them, as well as threats of death from organised crime groups. These forms of violence are situated within the broader context of structural violence perpetuated by the Mexican state, which systematically fails to assist families in locating their missing loved ones.

DR. RAÚL ZEPEDA GIL - Research Associate, University of Oxford International Development Department

Escaping Precariousness: Criminal Occupational Mobility of Homicide Inmates During the Mexican Drug War

One of the main inquiry topics within crime and conflict studies is how inequalities or poverty fosters or deters participation in organised violence. Since the late 1990s, the increase in violence in Latin America has boosted the use of Global North criminology and conflict studies to explain this phenomenon. Although helpful, the question about the link between inequality and violence remains elusive. Instead, this research uses occupational mobility and life course approaches to analyse the latest Mexican inmate survey data. With this data, we can understand the factors behind youth recruitment into violent criminal organisations during the current drug war. The main findings point to youth transitions from school and low-skilled manual employment towards criminal violent activities as an option out of work precariousness. This research proposes researching transitions to organised violence as an occupational choice in market economies and post-conflict settlements as a possible causal mechanism that explains inequalities and violence.

ALEJANDRA IBARRA CHAOUL - Journalist & Executive Director, Defenders of Democracy (DDLD)

Behind the Headlines: Insights from Oral Histories on the Killings of Journalists in Mexico (2018-2024)

This presentation draws on 42 semi-structured interviews with the family members, colleagues, and friends of journalists killed in Mexico between December 2018 and September 2024. These interviews provide 22 oral histories—ranging from single accounts to those with multiple testimonies—that shed light on the complex realities behind the deaths of these reporters. The interviews explore various aspects of the journalists' lives, including their professional work, personal values, engagement in public affairs beyond journalism, and the challenges they faced, such as protection protocols. Additionally, we examine the status of the murder investigations, what justice means to the survivors, and how they wish the deceased to be remembered. Through these personal narratives, we move beyond the breaking news cycle, offering a more nuanced understanding of the journalists’ motivations, working conditions, and the influence they had on their communities. This research challenges the often-idealized image of the investigative reporter and highlights the broader, often underappreciated role these journalists played in their towns, offering a more holistic view of their legacy.

PROF MARÍA LÓPEZ - Prof in Sociology and Deputy of the GDI Research Centre

Institutional Machismo Affecting Migrant Women Heading North

In this presentation, María López focuses on the dynamics of violence perpetrated by the authorities against undocumented migrant women on their way north through Mexico. Based on her 52 interviews with women, professionals, authorities and citizen advocates in Mexico City and Tijuana in 2023-2024, María argues that violence and neglect by authorities, lack of information and resources from the state, as well as complex bureaucracy make migrants a prime target for organised crime groups, local gangs and fellow travellers (López 2024). Drawing on the theories of machismo in the region (Gutmann 2007) and feminicidal violence (Lagarde 2006), Maria argues that the neglect and violence of the authorities is an expression of institutional machismo (López 2022), which legitimises the narrative of women as passive victims of a dysfunctional order whose existence is subject to the desires and needs of men. Despite the challenges, María shows how for many women the migration process becomes a transformative experience from which they emerge empowered (López 2024).

Image credit: Frida Kahlo, The Wounded Deer (1946)

The Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre is a home for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scholarship that explores migration, diasporas, nations, regions and localities through the lenses of diversity and inequality.

This event will be delivered in person in room TM1-05 at London Metropolitan University, Holloway Road, and online. The details on how to join online will be sent closer to the date.

If you are London Met staff or student, please use your London Met email address to register.

Please contact the Research and Postgraduate Office if you have any questions about this or any of our other events - rpo@londonmet.ac.uk.

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