Grammar of Threat: Governance and Order in Public Threats by Criminal Actors

Abstract

Why do criminal actors publicly display threatening messages? Studies of organized crime emphasize that criminal actors rely on clandestine networks of influence. Subtle or coded threats are an effective means of extending that influence, but publicizing these threats appears to undermine their chief advantage. We argue that publicized threats broadcast an imagined order, delineating who has a place in society under criminal control, and who does not. To demonstrate this argument, we construct a “grammar of threat” and use this to analyze public threats broadcast by four criminal actors: two groups in Colombia and two in Mexico. The analysis demonstrates that every group projects an order through their threats, but that the order imagined varies by group. Some orders are more clearly ideological; some are more localized or more expansive. These findings highlight the important role of communication—distinct from but often combined with violence—in criminal governance.

State for Hire: Corporate-state security contracts in extractive zones

“…This result aligns with qualitative accounts of the close relationship between the Colombian state and paramilitaries. We know that paramilitary and successor groups have worked in close concert with the Colombian Armed Forces, even to the extent that a shadow paramilitary group known as Las Aguilas Negras in Colombia is not an active paramilitary group per say, but rather, a name that right-wing Colombian politicians and security forces use to threaten left-wing leaders and activists in the country (Johnson and Gillooly 2023). This level of collaboration between these different types of parastatal formations is well-documented in Colombia.…”

Governing the underworld: How organised crime governs other criminals

“…However, it is difficult to access communication between criminals because of the codes used and the privacy they seek to escape state action (Gambetta, 2009;Paoli, 2020). There are, however, three forms of communication that are accessible to researchers: lethal violence, extra-lethal violence, and public messaging (Johnson and Gillooly, 2023).…”