Biological and political identity: The identification system in Mexico

Abstract

In 2008, following the assassination of the son of a renowned Mexican businessman, the Mexican government, social organizations, businesses and the media signed the National Agreement for Security, Justice and Legality. This body proposed the creation of a Citizen Identification Card (CIC). Converting the assassination into a ‘big event’, it has generated a ‘moral panic’ in the country, which allowed the justification to put in place mechanisms of control and population surveillance – such as the CIC. In 2009, the federal government announced the creation of an identity card with biometric elements. However, this project had an obstacle: the struggle for databases and collection of data from the Mexican population. This article analyses how the CIC project, in Mexico, has generated a debate on the implications of concentrating on an identification card, using two forms of citizen identification: biometric and territorial reference identity.