We sell drugs : the alchemy of US empire / Suzanna Reiss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reiss, Suzanna, Author.

Series:

American crossroads ; 39.

American Crossroads ; 39

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Balance of power.

Pharmaceutical industry--Political aspects--United States--History.

Pharmaceutical industry.

Drug abuse--Political aspects--United States--History.

Drug abuse.

Drug control--Political aspects--United States--History.

Drug control.

United States--Politics and government.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (325 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This history of US-led international drug control provides new perspectives on the economic, ideological, and political foundations of a Cold War American empire. US officials assumed the helm of international drug control after World War II at a moment of unprecedented geopolitical influence embodied in the growing economic clout of its pharmaceutical industry.We Sell Drugs is a study grounded in the transnational geography and political economy of the coca-leaf and coca-derived commodities market stretching from Peru and Bolivia into the United States. More than a narrow biography of one famous plant and its equally famous derivative products-Coca-Cola and cocaine-this book situates these commodities within the larger landscape of drug production and consumption. Examining efforts to control the circuits through which coca traveled, Suzanna Reiss provides a geographic and legal basis for considering the historical construction of designations of legality and illegality. The book also argues that the legal status of any given drug is largely premised on who grew, manufactured, distributed, and consumed it and not on the qualities of the drug itself. Drug control is a powerful tool for ordering international trade, national economies, and society's habits and daily lives. In a historical landscape animated by struggles over political economy, national autonomy, hegemony, and racial equality, We Sell Drugs insists on the socio-historical underpinnings of designations of legality to explore how drug control became a major weapon in asserting control of domestic and international affairs.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acronyms

Introduction

1. "The Drug Arsenal of the Civilized World": WWII and the Origins of US-Led International Drug Control

2. "Resources for Freedom": American Drug Commodities in the Postwar World

3. Raw Materialism: Exporting Drug Control to the Andes

4. The Alchemy of Empire: Drugs and Development in the Americas

5. The Chemical Cold War: Drugs and Policing in the New World Order

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780520959026

0520959027

OCLC:

966824720