301272 Local Histories of Drug Policies, Trafficking and Violence in the Americas (S) (SoSe 2024)

A new paradigm of cannabis legalization has emerged in the Americas in recent years after decades of violent drug wars and prohibition regimes. Following trends in Uruguay, Canada, Mexico, and the US at the state level, the question of “how” to legalize cannabis is replacing the fierce debates about “whether” to legalize. However, the violence and uncertainty surrounding the illegal drug trade and related policies do not appear to be abating. The politics of prohibition have shaped drug policy, organized crime, and public security, and thus, the current politics of legalization. We see competing policy models between public health approaches and market-oriented regulation: state control of all processes on the one hand and commercialization and market orientation on the other. Therefore, an analytical look at local histories in the Americas seems helpful to shed light on the dynamics of violence, policy models, and challenges of trans-regional prohibition/legalization policies. Critical studies also highlight the power asymmetries of growing international trade and production that accompany current global illegal and legal production trends. In this seminar, we will focus on the local backgrounds of drug trafficking, the entanglement of the state, international organizations, and structural violence, and take an interdisciplinary look at drug policy in general.

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen, notwendige Vorkenntnisse

Willingness to read and debate English texts.

Literaturangaben

• Andreas, P (2013): Smuggler Nation: how illicit trade made America. New York
• Caiuby Labate, B., Cavnar, C., Rodrigues, T. (Eds.) (2016): Drug Policies and the Politics of Drugs in the Americas. Cham.
• Durán, A (2018). The Politics of Drug Violence: Criminals, Cops and Politicians in Colombia and Mexico. Oxford.
• Kaltmeier, O et al. (Eds.) (2020): The Routledge Handbook of the Political Economy and Governance in the Americas. Milton Park
• Pardal, M (Ed.) (2023). The Cannabis Social Club. New York