Communicative Risk Governance, Collective Emotions, and Municipal Security Policies in Nezahualcóyotl

Abstract

This article examines risk governance and the formation of collective emotions associated with public insecurity in Nezahualcóyotl during the period 2011-2012. Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines social work, public administration, and communication, it analyzes the mechanisms through which the municipal government, the print media, and citizens produce and circulate representations of crime. The research combines media content analysis, a review of local policies, victimization statistics, and semi-structured interviews with community actors. The results show that the interaction between official discourses, territorial narratives, and media framing constructs a system of emotional governance where fear, anxiety, and injustice become regulatory principles of public action. The study also identifies inconsistencies between the municipal risk communication strategy and citizen perceptions, which affects institutional legitimacy. It concludes that local governance requires the integration of emotional diagnoses, informational transparency, and stronger community participation to reduce the distance between institutions, the media, and citizens.