“Cuando la ‘vieja’ se pone la gorra”. Juvenile conflict and policing practices in the city of Córdoba

Abstract

This article proposes to investigate from a foucauldian perspective the development of a punitive culture in three popular neighborhoods of the city of Córdoba (Argentina), from the analysis of the practices of 'policing' that women-mothers develop with respect to their children against the crime and the problematic use of substances. I will consider mainly the maternal denunciation, coded in the terms of juvenile "abnormality" and "dangerousness", as a problematic practice, given the historical conflict that the police institution maintains with young people from popular sectors, with constant denunciations of arbitrary detentions, violence, torture, harassment, forced disappearances and even deaths by 'easy trigger'. It is fundamental to think about the effects that these practices have on the life and safety of young people, evidencing how the hegemonic discourse on (in)security and policing practices have spread throughout the social fabric, reaching also the popular sectors.