Bulletin #1 Thinking about violence and relationships from Latin America
Working Group: Violence and Subjectivity
No. 01, June 2018
This is the first bulletin of the Working Group “Violence and Subjectivities”, formed, based on the generous call of CLACSO, by the research teams of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of the Republic (Uruguay), the Institute of Social Research (IIS) of the University of Costa Rica, the Faculty of Psychology of the National University of La Plata (Argentina), the Participatory Democracy Project (PRODEP) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Autonomous University of Querétaro (Mexico) and the Institute of Historical-Social Research of the University of Veracruzana (Mexico).
We conceive of the countries that comprise our region as a heterogeneous unit, a territory with a common origin, a unity that is simultaneously linguistic, religious, and organizationally diverse. Within this heterogeneous unity, we posit that it is both possible and desirable to analyze, investigate, and intervene in diverse social themes, behaviors, and practices, taking into account this tension between homogeneity and heterogeneity. We propose that working on violence in Latin America and the Caribbean from various fields of study is not only a possibility, but above all, a necessity for traversing a path that allows us to visualize both similarities and specificities.
Thus, superimposed upon an economic dynamic that generates increasing inequality and inequity are the conflicts arising from disputes over the appropriation of the state, public policies, and discursive practices that selectively criminalize sectors of the population, such as youth or the poor. Among the various social manifestations and expressions that reflect high levels of social conflict, the problem of violence takes on particular significance.
