CALL FOR PAPERS No. 39 – IURIS DICTIO JOURNAL
Beyond “Iron Fist” Policies: Toward Democratic Security Approaches to Organized Crime
Iuris Dictio Journal invites researchers and practitioners in Law, Political Science, Sociology, Criminology, Security Studies, Human Rights, and related fields to submit articles for Dossier Nº 39, to be published in 2026. This edition will examine democratic, effective, and sustainable alternatives to the regional expansion of “iron fist” security policies, the militarization of public security, and strictly punitive approaches.
Across Latin America, the growth of organized crime, now increasingly transnational, technologically sophisticated, and diversified, has fueled narratives that construct a false dichotomy between security and rights. These narratives suggest that combating violence requires weakening democratic institutions and sacrificing basic guarantees. In practice, such approaches often result in the militarization of policing, disproportionate reliance on criminal law, erosion of institutional checks and balances, and stigmatization of actors tasked with constitutional oversight.
These trends disproportionately affect groups that are already vulnerable, including young people from low-income sectors, women, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, migrants, residents of peripheral territories, and populations living under illegal economies imposed by criminal organizations. For these groups, violence is manifested not only through homicide, but also through systematic extortion, disappearances, forced recruitment, sexual violence, and territorial control.
In contrast, various national and subnational experiences across the region demonstrate that it is possible to advance security models that are both effective and consistent with the rule of law. These initiatives tend to integrate criminal investigation and intelligence strategies with due process guarantees, institutional oversight, civic participation, and social policies aimed at addressing the structural drivers of violence.
The Dossier, coordinated by Daniel Caballero, seeks to gather research that moves beyond diagnosis and contributes evidence, innovation, and concrete proposals for designing security policies that are effective, democratic, and consistent with constitutional limits. Suggested topics include:
- Transformations in organized crime: transnationalization, illicit economies, technological sophistication, and territorial control.
- Alternative indicators for measuring violence: disappearances, extortion, recruitment, sexual violence, internal displacement, and other forms of victimization.
- Dual-track policies integrating criminal justice measures, social prevention, and approaches to structural inequality.
- Comparative analyses of democratic security experiences at national and subnational levels in Latin America.
- The role of the judiciary and high courts in addressing organized crime and restraining political overreach.
- Strategic intelligence, cybercrime, and technologies applied to security.
- Groups at heightened risk: youth, women, Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, migrants, and rural or peripheral communities.
- Militarization of public security: scope, limits, and democratic implications.
Articles may be submitted in English or Spanish and must comply with the journal’s submission guidelines, available at the following link:
https://revistas.usfq.edu.ec/index.php/iurisdictio/about/submissions
The deadline for submission is June 15th, 2026. Articles must be submitted on the review’s OJS platform, after registering as a user at the following link:
https://revistas.usfq.edu.ec/index.php/iurisdictio/user/register
Any further questions may be directed to:
revistaiurisdictio@usfq.edu.ec
We appreciate your sharing this call for papers.