Drugs in the Western Hemisphere: An Odyssey of Cultures in Conflict (Jaguar Books on Latin America) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0842024220 ISBN 13: 9780842024228

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1996

Synopsis

A history of drugs is a study of cultures in competition, argues editor William O. Walker III. Eminently adaptive, drug cultures have competed with proscriptive cultures to create a legitimate place for themselves, although one that the dominant society may recognize only tacitly. Professor Walker brings together forty-six essays that examine the complex negotiations and changing rhetoric revolving around issues of drugs and their control between the United States and its Latin American neighbors. Drugs in the Western Hemisphere is divided into six parts. Articles are arranged chronologically, offering the reader a compre-hensive overview of the evolution of U.S.-Latin American drug policy from the turn of the century to the Clinton administration. Part I, Cultures in Conflict suggests that clashes between members of drug cultures and proponents of drug control traditionally have occurred within the context of the forma-tion of the modern nation. Part II, Drugs in Latin America, 1920-1940 takes a closer look at inter-American policies revolving around drugs in the 1920s and 1940s. Part III, Wartime Experience and Part IV, Confrontation and Controversy examine how World War II both affected U.S.-Latin American drug policy and set the tone for many years to come. Part V, Drugs and Security and Part VI, Drugs in the Americas: An Assessment takes the reader through to the Clinton administration. Writers here note the concerted efforts of the United States to establish hegemony over drug control throughout the Western Hemisphere.

About this title

About the Author:

William O. Walker III, professor of history at Ohio Wesleyan University, is author of "Drug Control in the Americas".

Review:

This volume is quite simply a stupendous collection of essays. . . . We are reminded how now, as in the past, drugs and drug consumption have been arenas through and within which power and inequality, struggle and competition, attempts at and resistance to domination, combat between the powerful and not so powerful, have been played out at the local, regional, and international levels. (Harry Sanabria, University of Pittsburgh)

Walker has compiled a rich selection of perceptive and little-known historical documents on drug production and trafficking in the Americas since the turn of the century. . . . Essential reading for those who want to understand how we became involved in Latin American drug wars, the often-damaging impact of U.S. policies at home and abroad, and why these policies have done so little to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. (Kenneth E. Sharpe, Swarthmore College)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0842024220
• ISBN 13: 9780842024228
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 262
• Editor: Walker III William O.