Oswaldo Zavala: Drug Cartels Do Not Exist

Oswaldo Zavala discusses his book, Drug Cartels Do Not Exist. He argues that stories around narcotics trafficking are largely based on n the claims of the US and Mexican governments and various cultural depictions. Zavala sees little connection to the realities of the trade as it exists. Media, in both countries, uncritically report law enforcement narratives regarding the narcotics trade in service of a national security myth. Oswaldo Zavala, a Mexican journalist and a professor of Latin…

Susila Gurusami: Criminalized Black Mothers 

Susila Gurusami discusses her book, "Break the System Criminalized Black Mothers and the Reproductive Politics of Abolition." By looking closely at the lives of formerly incarcerated Black mothers, Prof. Gurusami shows how state institutions—the criminal-legal, child welfare, and healthcare systems—keep Black mothers from their families, harming Black communities in the process. Susila Gurusami, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the…