The Social Space between Border and Boundary: Is the Lockdown in Latin America a “State of Exception” or a “State of Social Exception”?

In this article, aspects concerning the dynamics that take place in a well-defined “social space” when factors that are partly or totally independent of individuals break into it (i.e., pandemics, wars, revolutions and similar) will be explored. The reference is to “social space” since, by placing itself in the meso di-mension of analysis, this concept succeeds in overcoming the differences between the concepts of border and boundary by encompassing both the physical/material and socio-psycho-relational aspects that in it is realized. The aim of this article is to try to answer the question of whether social living space can be considered a “state of exception” and a “state of social exception” when the perception of individuals is subjected to a continuous tension that tends to deconstruct and redefine this space. In order to achieve this, the reflections will be supported by the consequences of the “confinement” (lockdown) due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic that started at the end of 2019 and that provideddifferent scenarios in the world (here the reference will be to Latin America and Colombia in particular).