The Transformation of Security Institutions in Latin America: The Market for Force of Commercial Military Security Actors

Penel, Charlotte (2021) The Transformation of Security Institutions in Latin America: The Market for Force of Commercial Military Security Actors. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

This thesis provides both an empirical and theoretical contribution to the literature on commercial military security actors (CMSAs) in Latin America. Firstly, it provides an empirical understanding on the presence and activities of CMSAs in the region. This contribution comes from the ‘Latin American and Caribbean Commercial Military and Security Actors Dataset’ that I have created and captures 1,509 contracts from 1980 to 2016 in 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries providing insight into when and who these actors have worked for, the types of services they provide, as well as information on the operators and companies of CMSAs. The thesis also provides a theoretical contribution by providing insight into how private security companies have developed in the security institution in the region. It illustrates how it is important to take into account a regional approach to understanding this phenomenon due to regional characteristics that can play a part in the outcome. It also takes a historical institutionalist approach to understanding this development, looking into changes that took place in security institutions in the region. Through historical institutionalism, I have developed a causal mechanism that can explain the outcome, which not only looks at the correlation but also the reason for this correlation, in other words, how the causal process occurred and the specific chain of events. The causal mechanism includes the critical juncture of neoliberalism and democratization, followed by three parts, which are: 1. a lack of public trust in the state security institution, 2. public insecurity, 3. a supply and demand for private security companies. Each part of the causal mechanism, using process-tracing, were tested through three case studies: Argentina, Bolivia, and El Salvador. All parts of the causal mechanism were found to be present, providing validity to the hypothesised causal mechanism.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2022 15:53
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 21:28
DOI:	10.17638/03137071
Supervisors:	Petersohn, Ulrich Lees, Nicholas
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3137071