The Social Construction of La Mordida: Gringo Tourism, Mexican Police, and the Scripted Nature of Traffic Ticket Bribery

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

This study examines the interactional structure of police stops and the dramaturgical features of “la mordida,” or bribes, in a tourist zone in the state of Qunitana Roo, Mexico. The practice of foreign tourists paying local policia in order to resolve traffic stops informally is explored using data collected via internet discussion forums and augmented by direct observation. Travelers post accounts of their own experiences relating to the initiation of a stop, the negotiation of the deviant exchange after a stop has occurred, and the successful completion of a stop. The discussion forums reveal a community possessing folk knowledge that is simultaneously cultivated and distributed via the discussion forum. We describe the traffic stop scripts that compose much of the folk knowledge, providing drivers with explicit behavioral strategies for negotiating la mordida, if and when they experience a stop. Such scripts, as well as the actual traffic stop interactions, appear to be built upon different elements of power possessed by each party, which come to the fore at different moments in the exchange. Our analysis highlights the importance of these interactional resources, including the scripts that facilitate la mordida both for foreign tourists and la policia.

Authors

• Kristen Myers, Northern Illinois University

• Kirk Miller, Northern Illinois University