Verónica Zubillaga : “I am the Mother of the Boss here”: A Relational Biograph

Critical Criminology Journal

This article explores the rarely told story of the mother of a drug dealer and gang leader. Through the relational biography of Virginia and her son, we will grasp the importance of family networks and their role in exercising violence, giving rise to contexts of what we call “lethal reciprocity” in the neighborhood. Virginia´s story reveals the sinuosity of the exercise of power in her community through her filial bond with her son. Amid chronic vulnerability, her maternal position in the neighborhood allows her to obtain certain advantages by knowing how to manage her son’s capacity for violence, the basis for some of her son’s decisions and actions. At the same time, her position as a mother of this figure simultaneously places her in a position of vulnerability, of permanent risk in front of her son´s enemies, and victimization of her persona and loved ones. This tension, a dialectic between privilege and vulnerability, runs through her whole life experience.

Journal issue available : Springer

Editor
Springer
Author(s)

Verónica Zubillaga is a Professor at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas. For the past twenty years, she has devoted herself to studying urban violence in Latin America; youth gang violence in Caracas; gender, public policy, and qualitative methods. In recent years Zubillaga has combined academia with public impact on social and armed violence, advocating for arms control and disarmament public policy in her country.
This publication was written during her research stay at the Collegium de Lyon (September 2022 – June 2023), during which she was co-hosted by the Triangle laboratory.