Drug War Capitalism Book Launch to be Held in Burlington, VT

Join author Dawn Paley for a book launch and discussion on her new book Drug War Capitalism.

Wednesday, December 17th, 6-8pm at the Fletcher room at the Fletcher Free Library (235 College Street in Burlington, VT). More info: Phone: 860-869-1388, Email: BenDangl(at)gmail(dot)com

Facebook event page

More information on book at AK Press.

The Drug War’s reach is global. As illicit drug use is on the rise in Vermont, another dimension of the Drug War is playing out with unprecedented violence south of the US-Mexico border. Questions of legalizing marijuana and addressing police violence have dominated political debates in the US. Meanwhile, in Mexico the recent disappearance of 43 students is bringing about a new social movement to challenge the country’s narco-state. 

Canadian investigative journalist Dawn Paley’s new book Drug war Capitalism ties these many pieces together to point to the ways in which the drug trade is a part of global capitalism. Paley will be launching and discussing her new book on Wednesday, December 17th, 6-8pm at the Fletcher room at the Fletcher Free Library (235 College Street in Burlington, VT.)

In the lead-up to this event, the book is available for review, and Paley is available for interviews. The event is organized by Toward Freedom, the Vermont Peace & Justice Center, and Upside Down World.

Drug wars are good business. Though pillage, profit, and plunder have been a mainstay of war since precolonial times, there is little contemporary focus on the role of finance and economics in today’s “Drug Wars”—despite the fact that they boost US banks and fill prisons with poor people. They feed political campaigns, increase the arms trade, and function as long-term fixes to capitalism’s woes, cracking open new territories to privatization and foreign direct investment.

Combining on-the-ground reporting with extensive research, Dawn Paley moves beyond the usual horror stories, beyond journalistic rubbernecking and hand-wringing, to follow the thread of the Drug War story throughout the entire region of Latin America and all the way back to US boardrooms and political offices. This unprecedented book chronicles how terror is used against the population at large in cities and rural areas, generating panic and facilitating policy changes that benefit the international private sector, particularly extractive industries like petroleum and mining. This is what is really going on. This is drug war capitalism.

Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist who has been reporting from South America, Central America, and Mexico for over ten years. Her writing has been published in the Nation, the Guardian, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Ms. Magazine, the Tyee, Georgia Straight, and NACLA Report on the Americas, among others.