Compound players and emotional arenas: The self-identification of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity in Mexico

Abstract

After the Mexican ex-president Felipe Calderón declared a ‘war’ against criminal organisations, the number of murders and people reported as disappeared increased steadily in the country. However, the authorities constantly ensured that these crimes occurred exclusively among criminals. This narrative was fractured when, after the murder of his son in 2011, the poet Javier Sicilia started leading the protests of activists, relatives of victims and social organisations from virtually all of Mexico. After some mobilisations, they adopted the name Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD). Following a ‘players and arenas’ understanding of social movements, I analyse the formation of the MPJD as a self-identified compound player. First, I explore the structural and agency elements in the participants’ backgrounds. Then, I discuss how the emotional content of the interactions in public demonstrations influenced their relationships developing a sense of community that fostered their identification as part of the MPJD. Overall, this study advances a micro-level perspective to understand the dynamics of collective action.