Abstract
El Salvador's U.S.-inspired war on gangs and mass incarceration is lauded by many globally as the needed punitive solution to end gang violence. However, critical gang studies challenge this view, emphasizing gangs' embeddedness within social, economic, and political systems that shape and sustain their violence. In this oral history, I expand critical gang studies' discussion on relationality by incorporating a gendered analysis of interdependence related to familial love. From 2022 to 2024, I documented the life history of Arquímedes, a prominent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) leader in El Salvador, through the perspective of and interviews with his cousin, Alicia. I argue that women relatives of male gang members' complex practices of solidarity reveal how patriarchy shapes dynamics across scales, fueling gang and state violence as a practice of protection for family and nation. Failing to address patriarchy condemns security efforts to ongoing violence as part of state measures to attain peace.