Necropolitics, Narcopolitics, and Femicide: Gendered Violence on the Mexico-U.S. Border

Abstract

In 1993, a group of women shocked Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, with the news that dozens of girls and women had been murdered and dumped, like garbage, around the city during the year. As the numbers of murders grew over the years, and as the police forces proved unwilling and unable to find the perpetrators, the protestors became activists. They called the violence and its surrounding impunity "femicide," and they demanded that the Mexican government, at the local, state, and federal levels, stop the violence and capture the perpetrators. Nearly two decades later, the city's infamy as a place of femicide is giving way to another terrible reputation as a place of unprecedented drug violence. Since 2006, more than six thousand people have died in the city, as have more than twenty-eight thousand across the country, in relation to the violence associated with the restructuring of the cartels that control the production and distribution of illegal drugs. In response to the public outcry against the violence, the Mexican government has deployed thousands of troops to Ciudad Juárez as part of a military strategy to secure the state against the cartels. In this essay, I argue that the politics over the meaning of the drug-related murders and femicide must be understood in relation to gendered violence and its use as a tool for securing the state. To that end, I examine the wars over the interpretation of death in northern Mexico through a feminist application of the concept of necropolitics as elaborated by the postcolonial scholar Achille Mbembe. I examine how the wars over the political meaning of death in relation both to femicide and to the events called "drug violence" unfold through a gendering of space, of violence, and of subjectivity. My objective is twofold: first, to demonstrate how the antifemicide movement illustrates the stakes for a democratic Mexican state and its citizens in a context where governing elites argue that the violence devastating Ciudad Juárez is a positive outcome of the government's war against organized crime; and second, to show how a politics of gender is central to this kind of necropolitics.

Homicídios de mulheres nas distintas regiões brasileiras nos últimos 35 anos: análise do efeito da idade-período e coorte de nascimento

“…However, there has been a growth in the number of deaths occurring in public roads, since many partners or former partners are aware of their victim's routine and may attack her as she leaves home, work or educational activities. Furthermore, in places where women are extremely socially vulnerable, they can be killed due to drug trafficking 6,12 , often in the form of revenge killings which also constitutes a type of femicide 6 .…”

“…During the military dictatorship, in order to implement the capitalist model, a large part of the population was excluded from the benefits brought about by the ensuing development. Historical inequalities were reproduced and intensified, gaining visibility within urban spaces and generating conflicts which were expressed in different forms of violence, including gender violence 5,12,18,29 . Furthermore, the most socially vulnerable regions are more exposed to the powerful influence of organized crime and drug trafficking, increasing structural violence and, consequently, domestic violence 5,12,18 .…”

“…However, an increase in this type of violence is observed in places where a patriarchal culture remains in place and where the State is negligent [6][7][8] . Within this context, it is possible to observe differences in the types of femicides committed: in the United States and the United Kingdom femicide is mainly perpetrated by partners or former partners [9][10][11] , whereas in Mexico it is strongly associated with drug trafficking and structural violence 12 .…”

Female homicide in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…Violence against women has been more prevalent in situations of gender inequality, in places and scenarios where the patriarchal order is more rigid. Feminist scholars believe that misogyny, sexism and control of women arising from the patriarchal system are predisposing factors to violence and femicide 10 .…”

“…Regional and international differences have been observed in in the rates and types of femicide. In the United States and Canada, the majority of femicides is perpetrated by partners or ex-partners; in Mexico, they have been linked to drug trafficking and urban violence; in Guatemala, femicide rates reached epidemic levels that remain due to impunity for perpetrators 10,14 . Brazil, a country of continental dimensions, shows marked differences in the coefficients of female mortality due to aggression.…”