City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900–1931In City of Suspects Pablo Piccato explores the multiple dimensions of crime in early-twentieth-century Mexico City. Basing his research on previously untapped judicial sources, prisoners’ letters, criminological studies, quantitative data, newspapers, and political archives, Piccato examines the paradoxes of repressive policies toward crime, the impact of social rebellion on patterns of common crime, and the role of urban communities in dealing with transgression on the margins of the judical system. By investigating postrevolutionary examples of corruption and organized crime, Piccato shines light on the historical foundations of a social problem that remains the main concern of Mexico City today. Emphasizing the social construction of crime and the way it was interpreted within the moral economy of the urban poor, he describes the capital city during the early twentieth century as a contested territory in which a growing population of urban poor had to negotiate the use of public spaces with more powerful citizens and the police. Probing official discourse on deviance, Piccato reveals how the nineteenth-century rise of positivist criminology—which asserted that criminals could be readily distinguished from the normal population based on psychological and physical traits—was used to lend scientific legitimacy to class stratifications and to criminalize working-class culture. Furthermore, he argues, the authorities’ emphasis on punishment, isolation, and stigmatization effectively created cadres of professional criminals, reshaping crime into a more dangerous problem for all inhabitants of the capital. This unique investigation into crime in Mexico City will interest Latin Americanists, sociologists, and historians of twentieth-century Mexican history. |
Contents
1 | |
I The Context | 13 |
II The Practices | 73 |
III The Consequences | 161 |
Crime Contested | 211 |
Statistics of Crime | 221 |
Notes | 237 |
Bibliography | 319 |
349 | |
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accused alcohol Antonio Archivo Arnulfo arrested authorities Battery Belem Belem jail capital Chávez City Council ciudad de México classes Código Penal colonial crime criminal criminales criminology cultural Díaz Distrito Federal Distrito y Territorios El Imparcial El Universal elite Estadística Estudios Excélsior Federal District fight Fondo Gaceta de Policía García gendarmes González Guerrero History homicide honor ibid Imparcial Imprenta inmates Islas Marías José judge judicial Justicia la Nación lower-class Luis Lyman L Manuel María Martínez Memoria Mexican México Mexico City Miguel Macedo modern Obregón offenders Penal Code penitentiary percent Pérez pesos police political population Porfirian Porfiriato Porfirio Díaz President prisoners Pública pulque pulquerías punishment Ramírez rateros reform República Mexicana Revolution Rodríguez Secretaría de Fomento sentenced sexual siglo Siglo Veintiuno social society statutory rape streets suspects Tepito Territorios Federales theft thieves tion University Press urban poor vecindades victims violence Voz de México women workers