LYNCHNING: EN SVØBE FOR MENNESKEHEDEN

Resumé

The article explores the phenomenon of

mob violence in predominatly Mayan

towns in rural Guatemala. Since 1996,

more than 100 people have been killed by

crowds in rural towns. The victims have

usually been young men accused of often

minor criminal acts, or representatives of

the state trying to protect the victims. The

occurrence of mob violence coincides

roughly with the area where the army

organized civil self-defence patrols during

the civil war from 1981-96 as part of the

national security counterinsurgency program.

The post-conflict transition has

paradoxically brought security back to the

top of the political agenda as political

violence has been substituted and overshadowed

by violence related to drug

trafficking and other forms of criminality.

The article shows how mob violence has

been interpreted in the context of postconflict

transformations where the elimination

of violence and violent conflicts has

been addressed as an object of development,

and suggests that we, in addition to

common sociological interpretations, may

understand lynchings as an exclusive

practice of communal sovereignty within

a transnational political field of politics

of in/security.