Show time: the logic and power of violent display

Ritholtz, Samuel

doi:10.1093/ia/iiac036

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, this study contributes to scholarship on violence more broadly, calling for greater specificity about the power and properties of violence. Research on the logic of various forms of violence often finds that violence serves an important meaning-making or meaning-conveying function (Fujii, 2021). The costliness of violence is widely taken as evidence that it is the most credible way to send a signal, and yet even criminal groups habituated to the use of violence, such as the Zetas, do not rely solely on violence to deliver messages or project order.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This extends the study of violence beyond victims and perpetrators. Even seemingly outside figures assume a role in violent displays; publicizing communal violence expands complicity for the crime, as bystanders turn a blind eye or avoid denouncing neighbors (Fujii, 2021). This literature also emphasizes the relationship between communal violence and the state (and certainly not only the failure of the state-sometimes this takes place with the approval of the state) (Gillooly, 2022;Kloppe-Santamaría, 2020).…”

Section: Threats In Scholarship On Violent Actorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When criminal actors publicize threatening messages, they produce an intelligible order with a clearly defined in-group and out-group. Whereas violent display creates an order by killing individuals to actively reconfigure society, public threats make order possible and understandable to the public (Fujii, 2021). Even if violence is already occurring, threats imagine and project this order into the future.…”

Section: Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Johnson

Gillooly

2023

Comparative Political Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Threats In Scholarship On Violent Actorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

Johnson

Gillooly

2023

Comparative Political Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this case, we will study six cases of extra-lethal violence in Barranquilla: cases of dismemberment against members of rival armed groups or common criminals who failed to comply with the norms of the governing OCG. Extra-lethal violence implies that whoever performs these acts seeks to impress an audience (Fujii, 2021). Therefore, we believe that this selection of cases can help to demonstrate how extra-lethal violence was used to build a reputation for the OCG among other criminals.…”

Section: Reputationmentioning

confidence: 95%

Governing the underworld: How organised crime governs other criminals

Sarmiento¹,

Trejos-Rosero²

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores how organised criminal organisations exercise criminal governance over other individual criminals and gangs using lethal and extra-lethal violence. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, over 250 press reports, and an original database on inter-criminal lethal violence, we demonstrate that while these organisations use violence to build their reputation as actors willing to use force, they also provide benefits to other criminals such as financing and protection from state and competitors. This article contributes to the literature on criminal governance by expanding the understanding of how the criminal world is organised and how OCGs use their political influence to legitimize criminal governance.

show abstract

“…61 Extra-lethal violence is not randomised violence; instead, it is directed against specific people and displayed to a particular audience. 62 This type of violence can be committed for instrumental or expressive purposes, as well as being premeditated or spontaneous. A single episode of extra-lethal violence may feature some or all of these dimensions.…”

Section: Extra-lethal Violence In Criminal Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Sustaining criminal governance with horror: The use of extra-lethal violence to regulate community life

Sarmiento¹,

Trejos-Rosero²

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article investigates why organised criminal organisations opt for dismemberment, a costly and resource-intensive practice compared to targeted killings. We argue that dismemberment serves two functions for OCGs: first, it demonstrates OCGs' willingness to use gruesome violence against those who challenge their territorial hegemony, and second, it sustains criminal governance regimes by punishing individuals who violate OCGs' regulations. To demonstrate this argument, we analyse 25 cases of dismemberment in Colombia that we compiled during more than four years of fieldwork, review of press archives and databases provided by local authorities. This article contributes to extending the concept of extra-lethal violence to organised crime studies.

show abstract

Show time: the logic and power of violent display

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

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

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

Governing the underworld: How organised crime governs other criminals

Sustaining criminal governance with horror: The use of extra-lethal violence to regulate community life

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About