Synopses & Reviews
"A deeply insightful book that connects the dots of the hidden systems that have subverted democracy and caused the type of desperation and anger that result in a 9/11. A book that opens our awareness."and#151;John Perkins, author of The New York Times bestseller
Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man"Anyone interested in global economic crime should read this book."and#151;Charmian Gooch, a founding director of Global Witness
"Global Outlaws is a revealing book about a global trend whose importance is still far from being fully recognized."and#151;Moises Naim, Editor in Chief of Foreign Policy Magazine and author of Illicit: How Smugglers Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy
"Carolyn Nordstrom's important new book takes us on a dark journey through war-torn landscapes riddled with corruption, violence, and gross inequalities. It is a compelling studyand#151;one guided by the norms of scholarly research but also written out of deeply felt experience. A book infused by anger, compassion, but also hope."and#151;Andrew Mack, University of British Columbia
"This is a fascinating, insightful, and important ethnographic study of the intersection of crime, finance, and power in the illegal, 'informal', or underground economy. I have read all of Carolyn Nordstrom's books, and this is the best one yet."and#151;Jeff Sluka, Massey University
"Carolyn Nordstrom's Global Outlaws is a rare and remarkable fusion of economic anthropology and travel writing. The prose is highly engaging without being sensationalistic. This is a timely and fascinating read for anyone looking for an on-the-ground account of the clandestine underside of globalization."and#151;Peter Andreas, co-author of Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations
"Carolyn Nordstrom is the best fieldworker in anthropology, bar none. Yet again she has pioneered new fieldsites and new forms of ethnography in this book, as well as presented a new framework for viewing economics and economic power. This is undoubtedly a highly important work that sets new frontiers for anthropology."and#151;Monique Skidmore, Australian National University
Review
and#8220;An ethnographically rich, peopled account of the global economy.and#8221;
Review
“An ethnographically rich, peopled account of the global economy.” Tim Hall
Synopsis
Carolyn Nordstrom explores the pathways of global crime in this stunning work of anthropology that has the power to change the way we think about the world. To write this book, she spent three years traveling to hot spots in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States investigating the dynamics of illegal trade around the worldand#151;from blood diamonds and arms to pharmaceuticals, exotica, and staples like food and oil. Global Outlaws peels away the layers of a vast economy that extends from a war orphan in Angola selling Marlboros on the street to powerful transnational networks reaching across continents and oceans. Nordstrom's extraordinary fieldwork includes interviews with scores of informants, including the smugglers, victims, power elite, and profiteers who populate these economic war zones. Her compelling investigation, showing that the sum total of extra-legal activities represents a significant part of the world's economy, provides a new framework for understanding twenty-first-century economics and economic power. Global Outlaws powerfully reveals the illusions and realities of security in all areas of transport and trade and illuminates many of the difficult ethical problems these extra-legal activities pose.
Synopsis
Since its independence in the nineteenth century, the South American state of Colombia has been shaped by decades of bloody political violence. In The Para-State, author Aldo Civico draws on interviews with paramilitary death squads and drug lords to provide a cultural interpretation of the countryand#8217;s history of violence and state control. Between 2003 and 2008, Civico was given unprecedented access to some of Colombiaand#8217;s most notorious leaders of the death squads whose words and life stories he chronicles.and#160; He also conducted interviews with the victims of paramilitaryand#8217;s violence, drug kingpins, and vocal public supporters of the paramilitary groups. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, this riveting work demonstrates how the paramilitaries have in essence become the war machine deployed by the Columbian state to control and maintain its territory and political legitimacy.
About the Author
Aldo Civico is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rutgers University. Between 2005 and 2008 Civico facilitated ceasefire talks between the government of Colombia and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN). Senator George Mitchell has called him and#147;one of the most innovative leaders in the conflict resolution field.and#8221;
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
NATIONAL
1. The War Orphan
2. The Bombed-Out Shop
3. Coconuts and Cigarettes: Some Definitions
4. The Govand#8217;norand#8217;s Red Tractors
5. Military Takeovers (Or, How to Own a Country)
6. The Untold Story of the Amputees
7. Robber Barons
INTERNATIONAL
8. The Border Postand#151;a Billion-Dollar Truck Stop (Going International)
9. Romancing the Stone: Borders and Businesspeople
10. The Washing Machine: Laundering, Part One
GLOBAL
11. Diamonds and Fish: Going Global
12. Ports
13. Drugs
14. The Culture of Criminals
15. The Culture of Cops
16. The World-Port
17. The Investment Machine: Laundering, Part Two
18. Human Cargo
HOME
19. Post-Terror: Creating (the Illusion of) Security
20. Conclusion
Notes
References
Index