Call for Papers: “State, Criminality, and Violence in Latin America”

The Editorial Board of Encuentro Latinoamericano (ELA) announces its Call for Papers in the following formats: scientific articles, essays, research notes, and reviews. This special issue is entitled “State, Criminality, and Violence in Latin America.”

The weakness of states represents one of the current concerns of political science. The State has been understood in various traditions of political thought as a necessary construction to solve the problems of social order and cooperation, in short, to overcome the Hobbesian state of nature. However, the State seen as the holder of the legitimate monopoly of violence is more an ideal type than an empirical phenomenon, hence the need for approaches that demystify the State and consider its limitations and real characteristics (Migdal, 2008). One of the main challenges of contemporary societies lies in the inability of the State to fulfill its functions, especially in complex societies such as those of Latin America, in which actors emerge guided by a variety of economic and political motivations that challenge and compete with the State. In the worst cases, we observe the emergence of forms of social organization on the margins of the State built on fear (such as those that prevail in various towns in Mexico driven by criminal groups). A weak State cannot guarantee freedom, certainty, and social welfare to its citizens (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2020), hence the urgency of understanding the logic of the phenomena and processes that directly or indirectly express the weakness of the State. This special issue is an opportunity to reflect on these phenomena and processes with a focus on the weakness of the State as one of the causes of their emergence. Some topics that will be covered are: drug trafficking, criminality, politically motivated violence, economically motivated violence, self-defense groups, and community police, lynchings, among others.

ELA is a journal edited by junior researchers and established scholars from Latin America that publishes texts by authors of all levels. This journal specializes in the political and social analysis of issues, phenomena, and discussions of relevance to the Latin American region, including the Caribbean. ELA is committed to following a quality editorial process. Manuscripts are submitted to the ELA evaluation process, where external reviewers play a crucial role in deciding whether the text is publishable.

Manuscripts can be submitted in any of the languages considered by ELA: Spanish, Portuguese, and English. The deadline for the call for papers is May 29, 2023. Complete information on submission guidelines can be found at https://iapss.org/ela/.

All articles will receive a preliminary review by the Editorial Committee, and those meeting the minimum evaluation requirements will be sent to two external reviewers. The process is double-blind, meaning the reviewer does not know the author’s name or affiliation and vice versa. To submit your manuscript and request additional information, please contact the Editorial Committee at ela@iapss.org.