Insecurity and Contemporary Mexican Religiosity

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More than simply an analysis of how chronic non-state violence has shaped new religious expressions, Insecurity and Contemporary Mexican Religiosity explores how ordinary Mexicans make meaning in extraordinary times. Set against the backdrop of ongoing insecurity, the book traces a wide range of marginalized—and at times controversial—devotions that have taken root in the country’s unsettled terrain. Rather than sensationalizing these practices, it situates them within the lived realities of devotees who turn to alternative spiritual resources in their search for protection, justice, healing, and hope. — R. Andrew Chesnut, Virginia Commonwealth University. Author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (2017).   ‘In this urgent, vital, and interdisciplinary book, Amalendu Misra evaluates the rise of alternative, and at times amoral, belief systems in Mexico in the wake of ongoing cartel violence and insecurity. It demonstrates how the adoption of new forms of folk spirituality is linked to criminal insurgencies.’ — Robert J. Bunker, Research Fellow, Future Security Initiative, Arizona State University. Editor of Blood Sacrifices: Violent Non-State Actors and Dark Magico-Religious Activities (2016).

Insecurity and Contemporary Mexican Religiosity investigates the intersection between insecurity and non-mainstream faiths in contemporary Mexico. It asks why people turn to contentious faiths during extremities.   This detailed study brings to light how a belief system representing three popular saints - Santa Muerte, Jesús Malverde, and San Judas Tadeo - has been adopted by the country’s poor and marginal and co-opted by criminal fraternities.   By interrogating manifestations of this new religiosity in Mexican society, Amalendu Misra demonstrates how faith can bolster the assertion of power in order to challenge authority and even on occasion inflict injury on adversaries. Misra also draws on testimonials, religious representations, and disturbing statistics regarding brutality to underscore the dependence on specific forms of divinity, of those seeking to survive Mexico’s ecosystem of spiralling criminal violence.

Amalendu Misra is Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University, UK. He is the author of the following monographs: On Beheading (2022); Towards a Philosophy of Narco Violence in Mexico (2017); The Landscape of Silence: Sexual Violence Against Men in War (2015); Politics of Civil Wars (2008); Afghanistan – The Labyrinth of Violence (2005); and Identity and Religion (2004).
Insecurity and Contemporary Mexican Religiosity investigates the intersection between insecurity and non-mainstream faiths in contemporary Mexico. It asks why people turn to contentious faiths during extremities.   This detailed study brings to light how a belief system representing three popular saints - Santa Muerte, Jesús Malverde, and San Judas Tadeo - has been adopted by the country’s poor and marginal and co-opted by criminal fraternities.   By interrogating manifestations of this new religiosity in Mexican society, Amalendu Misra demonstrates how faith can bolster the assertion of power in order to challenge authority and even on occasion inflict injury on adversaries. Misra also draws on testimonials, religious representations, and disturbing statistics regarding brutality to underscore the dependence on specific forms of divinity, of those seeking to survive Mexico’s ecosystem of spiralling criminal violence.
A searing indictment of how criminality and folk divinity work hand-in-glove to subvert Mexico’s insecure ecosystem Asks why the country’s marginalized  depend on spurious beliefs to subvert violence Traces the power and position of the “thug saints trinity” in times of disorder

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Amalendu Misra

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Mexico Folk religion Violence State failure Law and order

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“More than simply an analysis of how chronic non-state violence has shaped new religious expressions, Insecurity and Contemporary Mexican Religiosity explores how ordinary Mexicans make meaning in extraordinary times. Set against the backdrop of ongoing insecurity, the book traces a wide range of marginalized—and at times controversial—devotions that have taken root in the country’s unsettled terrain. Rather than sensationalizing these practices, it situates them within the lived realities of devotees who turn to alternative spiritual resources in their search for protection, justice, healing, and hope.” (R. Andrew Chesnut, Virginia Commonwealth University. Author of “Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint” (2017))

“In this urgent, vital, and interdisciplinary book, Amalendu Misra evaluates the rise of alternative, and at times amoral, belief systems in Mexico in the wake of ongoing cartel violence and insecurity. It demonstrates how the adoption of new forms of folk spirituality is linked to criminal insurgencies.” (Robert J. Bunker, Research Fellow, Future Security Initiative, Arizona State University. Editor of “Blood Sacrifices: Violent Non-State Actors and Dark Magico-Religious Activities” (2016))

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