We are excited to announce the publication of a new book entitled ‘Cocaine: From Coca Fields to the Streets‘ which is edited by Division member the Thomas Grisaffi and his colleague Enrique Desmond Arias. Through a collection of essays from numerous contributors, the book traces the global cocaine commodity chain from its origins in the coca fields of the Andes to consumption on US city streets. Based on in-depth interviews and archival research, these essays examine how government agents, acting both within and outside the law, and criminal actors seek to manage the flow of illicit drugs to both maintain order and earn profits. Whether discussing the moral economy of coca cultivation in Bolivia, criminal organizations and drug traffickers in Mexico, or the routes cocaine takes as it travels into and through Guatemala, the contributors demonstrate how entire ways of life are built around cocaine commodification. They consider how the authority of state actors is coupled with the self-regulating practices of drug producers, traffickers, and dealers, complicating notions of governance and of the relationships between economic and moral economies. The collection also outlines a more progressive drug policy that acknowledges the important role drugs play in the lives of those at the urban and rural margins.
The book is available here from Duke University Press
For more information about Thomas Grisaffi’s research click here