Abstract/Summary

The Introduction sets out the volume’s argument in nine broad steps. The first section traces the shape of the global cocaine trade from coca cultivation in the Andes to consumption on US, European, and Latin American streets. The second section considers the broader literature on commodity chains to highlight how the flow of commodities impacts on life worlds. The third focuses in to consider the mechanics that allow transactions to occur, with a specific focus on anthropological perspectives on exchange. Section four connects the intellectual framework on moral economies to broader debates on criminal violence and examines the implications of this approach for understanding local iterations of commodity chains. Parts five to seven bring the discussion back to cocaine with a consideration of the dynamics of illicit production and governance, and their implications for the lived experience of communities affected by the trade. The penultimate section lays out a framework to examine the cocaine commodity chain in a more systematic fashion. The chapter ends with an outline of the contributions to follow.