The securitization of postmodern criminal policy and guidelines for a process of resistance.

Abstract

Postmodern criminal policies are, to a large extent, endowed with exceptional rigidity but without achieving positive results in the fight against crime. However, society supports them, convinced that this is the best way to protect its security. Alarmed by the sensationalist messages propagated by the media, society legitimizes failed and even socially harmful policies, and ends up gradually demanding more doses of the same remedy (criminal repression). However, such policies are not effective because they are based on social fear rather than on the causes of crime. Therefore, a process of resistance to the securitizing discourse is urgently needed in order to implement alternatives that achieve a real reduction in crime. Here we consider the ways in which social actors could resist securitization, and suggest possible strategies to make such resistance feasible.