Democratic Political Transition and Re-Securitization: A Comparative Analysis of Argentina and Chile

In this presentation I comparatively analyze the process of re-securitization from National Security to Citizen security in post-authoritarian Argentina and Chile. Debunking simplifying narratives that assume a displacement of "national security" by “citizen security” rhetoric’s, problems, policies and agencies in the national political arenas after the transition to democracy, here I show that the process is better described as complex combination of symbolic subordination of certain problems and a multiplicity of reconversion strategies of different agents in the new political arena, and in particular in the new space of relations structure around new security threat. I trace the evolution of the main categories from “national” to “citizen” security and their differential combinations in state policies and programs, as well as the reconversion strategies of main police forces in each case. I draw on documentary and interview data, analyzing the first decade after transition to democracy in each case.