Narco war? Violence(s), deaths and classificatory works in the city of Rosario, Argentina

Abstract

In the last decade, the homicide rate in Rosario (Argentina) has increased significantly, concentrating on young people from low-income sectors. A widespread explanation exclusively links the deaths to disputes over territorial control of the distribution and sale of illegal drugs, as if it were merely instrumental and unregulated violence. This explanation is reflected in the production of state information by the penal system on these deaths, but it is usually problematized by those who participate in these violent conflicts, highlighting instead their productive effects as forms of production of social prestige and honor. The article proposes, from an ethnographic approach, to put in dialogue two classificatory works in relation to deaths and lethal violence: that of certain state agencies when producing information on "homicides" and that of the young people who are the protagonists of these violent conflicts.