Some hypotheses on the extent of the feeling of insecurity in Latin America

Abstract

This article presents a series of hypotheses about the feeling of insecurity in Latin America from our research in Argentina. Our central idea is that increasing feelings of insecurity produce consequences at the level of the social imaginary and social action. What process feeds the feeling of insecurity to spread? The agreement that this is a public problem qualitatively different than usual in the past raises a number of questions: about the causes, personal risk and the necessary solutions. The answers are the pieces that make social narratives about the insecurity. Such a definition of reality suggests what emotions are logical and is projected into the field of action. This leads also to a change in the exclusive association of fear and authoritarianism, forged at a time when lack of safety was a minority concern. The central paradoxes of this field of study, that is, the enigma of why those groups who are less subjected to crime are apparently the most fearful, are examined.