Transnational Organized Crime And Sociological Utilitarianism: Evidence From The Traffic Of Migrants In Colombia

Sociological utilitarianism, or the compendium of non-economic and not strictly rational motivations that are internalized in social agents due to which actors tend to reproduce criminal logic, is manifested through different forms of transnational crime. Several elements can be exposed though this perspective, outside of the traditional anaylsis based on economic rationalism. This text proposes an analysis agenda with five concrete points to observe in regards to the generation of sociological motivations facing transnational crime. These are: the usufruct and projection of authority; the need to subscribe to protection structures in grey areas of state presence; the interest to generate, nourish, preserve, or contribute to the generation of identity; the need to create parallel mechanisms of social regulation; and the need to finance causes considered to be morally superior. Its application to the evolution of the traffic of migrants in Colombia becomes a first opportunity to start thinking about the issue, along with the understanding of similar phenomena.