Organized crime: confronting the securitizing perspective with state-crime collusion literature. Disciplinary implications

Abstract

This article offers a critical analysis of what we identify as the securitizing perspective of organized crime, which has become widespread within the area of Latin American security and defense studies. Despite its emphasis on a feature of the widening of security - non-state transnational threats rather than interstate military conflicts - we argue that it continues to be anchored in the traditional, statist and militaristic view of the notion of national security. We call attention, in turn, on the connection between this perspective and the International Relations agenda as a discipline. In contrast, we advocate the need to add contributions from Political Science and Sociology - among other disciplines - that allow a more accurate view of the relationship between crime and state in Latin America. Specifically, we confront the securitizing perspective with the literature on state-crime collusion to show the instrumental role that criminal organizations play in the governance of territories in countries with democratic and developmental deficits. To illustrate our argument, we turn to investigations on two important criminal organizations in Brazil: the Comando Vermelho and the Primeiro Comando da Capital.