The Struggle for the Meaning of Dissent

• Date: 01 September 2015
• Author: Alejandro Cerda García
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X15581616
• Published date: 01 September 2015
• Subject Matter: Other Articles

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 204, Vol. 42 No. 5, September 2015, 186–197

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X15581616

© 2015 Latin American Perspectives

186

The Struggle for the Meaning of Dissent

Toward the Social Deconstruction of Dissent as a Crime

by

Alejandro Cerda García

Translated by

Carlos Pérez

Political dissent, a significant part of any democratic process, must be understood not

only as a historical and social construction but also from a structural and relational per-

spective. Social movements and organizations, especially autonomist indigenous ones,

attempt to persuade the public that dissent is a right and a proper form for thinking about

the political. The social construction of dissent as a crime not only is promoted by state

regimes but also seeks to be accepted, legitimated, and sustained by the society. Socially

deconstructing it requires considering the law as a historical production, connecting its

analysis to legitimacy, and recognizing its ideological and fictional dimension and the

influence of structural conditions such as the organization of production.

El disenso político, parte sustancial de todo proceso democrático, requiere ser compren-

dido como construcción social e histórica y desde una perspectiva estructural y relacional.

Organizaciones y movimientos sociales, especialmente los indígenas autonomistas, des-

pliegan acciones para influir en la opinión pública a fin de sostener que disentir es un

derecho y una forma idónea de pensar lo político. La construcción social de la disidencia

como delito es un proceso que, si bien es impulsado por regímenes estatales, busca ser

aceptado, legitimado y sostenido por la sociedad. La tarea de desconstruirlo socialmente

requiere considerar el derecho como producto histórico, vincular su análisis a la legitimi-

dad, y reconocer su dimensión ideológica y ficcional y la influencia por condiciones tales

como la organización de los procesos de producción.

Keywords: Dissent, Human rights, Autonomy, Resistance, Indigenous movements

State violence is used in Latin America against movements and organiza-

tions critical of dominant national and international projects for their opposi-

tional political positions. If we accept the hegemonic idea concerning the public

treatment of dissent, we only have to decide whether to support those who are

in charge of protecting the law or those who threaten public order, and we will

probably side with the former. But is this bipolar framework the only way of

situating and understanding the exercise of dissent in the public sphere? A

Alejandro Cerda García is a professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City

and the author of Imaginando zapatismo (2011), Promoción de la salud y poder (2010), and Metrópolis

desbordadas (2010). Carlos Pérez teaches Latino and Latin American studies at California State

University, Fresno.

581616LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X15581616Latin American PerspectivesCerda / DECONSTRUCTION OF DISSENT AS CRIME

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