We want them alive: Violence and the "Mexican Moment"

For most of the last decade, Mexico has been mired in chronic violence due to the toxic relationships between the state and organized crime. The government’s war on drug cartels has caused the death of over 80,000 and the disappearance of over 25,000. Today, the country is in the midst of an important political crisis triggered by the forced disappearance of 43 students at the hands of police, which has sparked mass protests for over a month. At the same time, the government is keen to promote its economic reforms and position Mexico as an important economic partner and international actor in the Asia Pacific region as evidenced by President Peña Nieto’s recent visit to China and the G20 Summit in Brisbane. How can we understand this disconnect between the local and international contexts? In this Public Seminar we will discuss the historical and institutional roots of the current situation in Mexico with regards to violence and how these may impact the government’s agenda at the international level with added discussions on possible policy paths for the future.

Speaker

Dr. Rolando Ochoa is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the School of Sociology, Australian National University. He holds a DPhil in Sociology and an MPhil in Latin American Studies, both from the University of Oxford, UK. He has been researching crime and violence in Mexico (in its many forms) for over a decade and is particularly interested in serious crimes, urban crime, organised crime, and crime prevention. He also has policy experience in the field of crime prevention and community safety.