NarcoKnowledge: Thinking Through the Drug Wars

There is no doubt that a topic such as the “Drug Wars” motivates and inspires comment. This collection of student papers came out of a class that served as the capstone course at the University of Redlands for Sociology and Anthropology and Latin American Studies in the spring of 2013. Students worked from a common set of readings prior to developing and researching their own interests. This latitude accounts for the variety of topics covered—from money laundering and environmental degradation, to gendering the conversation on drug policy and supporting cultural forms directed toward social change. Some of the papers follow typical research form and others include songs and poems written by the authors. The course operated as a workshop as students developed the organization of the book and read each other’s work for peer review and to develop a more cohesive feeling to the collection. The course goal was to have students apply their thinking, research and writing skills learned in their primary disciplines in a way that could go beyond the classroom. This is the first volume in a series to collect and publish student papers from our capstone courses.