Listening to Sicarios : Narcoviolence in Ciudad Juárez, 2008-2012

Listening to Sicarios presents new insights into the lives of paid assassins of Mexico’s drug trafficking syndicates from the perspectives of the assassins themselves. Based on an extraordinary series of ethnographic interviews carried out in the wake of the record levels of narcoviolence experienced in Ciudad Juárez between 2008 and 2012, this study analyzes the ways in which these young men interpret their actions across four key thematic axes: border infrastructures, youth and responsibility, masculinity and sentiment, and ethics: good vs. evil. It argues that sicarios follow a career path within a criminal corporate infrastructure that is especially robust in Mexican border cities. It also explores how sicarios understand youthful innocence in relation to adult accountability in the realm of violence that is frequently meted out by young men on other young men. It then analyzes sicarios’ expressions of feelings of power that may boost their sense of virility, as well as feelings of fear and regret that imply weakness. Finally, it examines how sicarios defend their personal integrity in the face of a public discourse that views their acts as savage. Acknowledgments Contents Chapter 1: Introduction: Listening to Sicarios Listening to Sicarios Meeting Sicarios Fieldwork Protocols Collaborative Analysis Themes and Insights A Few Final Words Chapter 2: Deadly Employment within the Border Industrial Complex The Border Criminal Industrial Complex Borders Don’t Exist Border Violence Job Markets, Career Paths Salarymen Shifting Professional Priorities, Personal Redemption The Case of Tony Sicarios as Border Thinkers Crossing Back Some Observations Chapter 3: Youthful Murderers: Innocence and Professionalism Approaching Mexican Youth Innocence and Responsibility Underground Developments No Future Modernizing Juárez Otherness: Work as a Form of Subsistence Popular Heroes Dreams and Reality Becoming a Man Conclusions Chapter 4: Sicario Masculinities: Feeling Reckless and Afraid The Sentiments of Sicarios A Woman’s Views on Narcomasculinities Power and Vulnerability The Case of Anastasio Gender and Violence in Juárez Male Life, Bare Life Producing Narcomasculinities Gore Masculinities Reckless Masculinity in the Face of Fear Reckless and Afraid Salvation Amidst Everyday Assassination Chapter 5: Fury as a Tool of Evil Locating the Root of Evil Institutionalized Violence National Evil Theories, Explanations, Excuses Banal Evils Mexican Horrorism The Power of Horror The Case of Alex Murder in Mexico An Ethics of Cruelty A Way of Life A Bad End Conclusion Works Cited Index Listening to Sicarios presents new insights into the lives of paid assassins of Mexicos drug trafficking syndicates from the perspectives of the assassins themselves. Based on an extraordinary series of ethnographic interviews carried out in the wake of the record levels of narcoviolence experienced in Ciudad Juarez between 2008 and 2012, this study analyzes the ways in which these young men interpret their actions across four key thematic axes: border infrastructures, youth and responsibility, masculinity and sentiment, and ethics: good vs. evil. It argues that sicarios follow a career path within a criminal corporate infrastructure that is especially robust in Mexican border cities. It also explores how sicarios understand youthful innocence in relation to adult accountability in the realm of violence that is frequently meted out by young men on other young men. It then analyzes sicarios expressions of feelings of power that may boost their sense of virility, as well as feelings of fear and regret that imply weakness. Finally, it examines how sicarios defend their personal integrity in the face of a public discourse that views their acts as savage