Alternative Moralites in Conflict with the Law: Adaptive Responses to the Crisis of the Mexican Moral System

Abstract

This research examines the phenomenon of alternative moralities that emerge in conflict with the law as an adaptive response to the crisis of the Mexican moral system. Through analysis of the emblematic case of Carlota —who took justice into her own hands in April 2025 due to institutional inefficacy, an innovative epistemological framework is proposed based on three dimensions of normality: biological, historical, and social/conjunctural. The study argues that when a State fails in three fundamental pillars (congruence and competence, listening to its people’s needs, and exercising convincing power to align social morality with state moral systems), conditions are generated for parallel normative systems. Through integrative analysis of the three normalities, it is demonstrated that these alternative moralities are not antisocial deviations, but coherent normative constructions that seek to reconcile biological, historical, and social realities when official systems fail. Findings reveal profound normative fragmentation in Mexico, where broad social sectors legitimize violent responses to perceived systematic state unprotection.