We analysed the extent to which violent, organised crime has disrupted anthropological research in Mexico and Central America by conducting a survey of anthropologists who work in the region. We found that although anthropologists will continue research in regions they perceive to have the socio-economic characteristics of a failed state they are far less inclined to work in areas that they perceive as excessively violent. We continue with examination of the state failure and feudalisation that are affecting the region. We conclude that in the feudal zones, the state has lost its comparative advantage in the use of force and that state intrusion into these areas increases armed collective violence in a manner similar to that described in the literature on warfare in tribal zones.

通过对在该地区工作的人类学家进行的一项调查，我们分析了暴力，有组织犯罪在多大程度上破坏了墨西哥和中美洲的人类学研究。我们发现，尽管人类学家将继续在他们认为具有失败状态的社会经济特征的地区进行研究，但他们却不太愿意在他们认为暴力过度的地区开展工作。我们将继续研究影响该地区的国家失败和封建制度。我们得出的结论是，在封建地区，国家在使用武力方面已经失去了相对优势，国家对这些地区的入侵以类似于部落地区战争文献中所述的方式加剧了武装集体暴力。