Abstract
This work analyzes the most frequent framings used to explain insecurity and violence in Mexico and Latin America, considering the type of understandings and prescription they provide to public policies. We consider that Johan Galtung´s systemic approach to violence offers an integral view of the processes that lead to social violence, and provides important elements for the social efforts committed with the construction of peace. We also explore the potential contributions of the “commons” perspective to the comprehension of the collective efforts needed to build a sustained peace, considered as a condition that exceeds the mere apparent absence of conflicts, and involves both, citizenship and the state at different scales.