La intermediación como protección: implicaciones para la configuración de mercados en contextos de inseguridad

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in la Central de Abasto, Mexico City’s main whole-sale food market, this article analyzes the effects of violence on the configuration of the Mexican food sys-tem. It argues that in contexts of violence, relations of intermediation expand and transform. That is, the num - ber and type of actors involved in distribution increases and new types of intermediaries arise in the system who help mitigate the sense of insecurity felt by market actors. This study contributes to current anthropological discussions about (inter)mediation, and reveals the importance of studying violence in the context of markets and economic relations.