Search

Given the persistence of organized criminal violence in Mexico, scholars have raised the possibility of overcoming it through transitional justice measures. We try to assess the viability of such a strategy in two steps. First, we draw a conceptual map of organized societal violence that allows us to identify so-called narcoviolence as an economic civil war, distinct from political civil wars. We then discuss the applicability of justice measures to the Mexican context. Although we identify important analogies, we end up highlighting an insurmountable obstacle: justice measures can only work as a pacifying strategy if the state that strives to disarm criminal gangs had the capacity to ensure that their disarmament was permanent., Ante la persistencia de la violencia criminal organizada en México, se ha discutido la posibilidad de superarla usando medidas de justicia transicional. ¿Qué tan viable sería su aplicación? Tratamos de responder a esta pregunta en dos pasos. Primero, trazamos un mapa conceptual de la violencia societal organizada que nos permite identificar la llamada narcoviolencia como una guerra civil económica y distinguirla de las guerras civiles políticas. Después, discutimos la aplicabilidad de la justicia transicional al contexto mexicano. Aunque identificamos analogías importantes, terminamos resaltando un obstáculo infranqueable: la justicia transicional solo puede servir como vía pacificadora si el Estado que recurre a ella para desarmar a las bandas criminales tuviera la capacidad de garantizar que ese desarme sea permanente.

Raising a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has generated interest and debate in research and politics, but opposition persists. Up to now, the presentation of impacts focussed on effectiveness (i.e., intended impact); to our knowledge, no literature syntheses focussed on both intended and unintended impacts. A systematic scoping review was conducted in which a search strategy was developed iteratively and literature was obtained from experts in alcohol research and scientific and grey databases. Ninety-one studies were extracted and analysed using formative thematic content analysis. Intended impacts were reported in 119 units of information from the studies (68% positive), forming four paths: implementation, primary and (two) on secondary societal harm and violence. Unintended developments were reported in 43 units of information (30% positive), forming five themes. Only eight studies reported on implementation. Furthermore, a division between primary and secondary paths and the use of a bridging variable (drinking patterns in analyses or methodology) was discovered. These results provide an insight into how well legislation works and can be used to discover or implement new means of curbing underage drinking and alcohol-related violence and harm. They also offer valuable starting points for future research and underline the importance of considering unintended developments.