Trying to Make It

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A01=R. V. Gundur
A01=Rajeev V. Gundur
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_R. V. Gundur
Author_Rajeev V. Gundur
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=JBFH
Category=JFFN
Category=JKVG
Category=JKVM
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
history of american drug trade
how drug trafficking works
Language_English
organized crime in the us
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
prison gangs and drugs
PS=Active
softlaunch
twenty-first century war on drugs

Product details

  • ISBN 9781501764479
  • Weight: 907g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 15 Aug 2022
  • Publisher: Cornell University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Paperback
  • Language: English
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Trying to Make It is R. V. Gundur's journey from the US-Mexico border to America's heartland, from America's prisons to its streets, in search of the true story of the drug trade and the people who participate in it. The book begins in the Paso del Norte area, encompassing the sister cities of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, which has been in the public eye as calls for securing the border persist. From there, it moves on to Phoenix, which was infamously associated with the drug trade through a series of kidnappings. Finally, the book goes on to Chicago, which has been a lightning rod of criticism for its gangs and violence.

Gundur highlights the similarities and differences that exist in the American drug trade within the three sites and how they relate to current drug trade narratives in the US. At each stop, the reader is transported to the city's historical and contemporary contexts of the drug trade and introduced to the individuals who have lived them. Drug retailers, street and prison gang members, wholesalers, and the law enforcement personnel who try to stop them offer readers a comprehensive look at how various illicit enterprises work together to supply the drugs that American users demand.

Most importantly, through a combination of macro- and microlevel vantage points, and comparative analysis of three key sites in illicit drug operations, the stories in Trying to Make It remind us that the people involved in the drug trade, for the most part, do not deserve vilification. Far from being a seemingly uniform, widespread threat or an unlimited array of bogeymen and women, they are ordinary people, living ordinary lives, just trying to make it.

R. V. Gundur is a criminologist based in Australia. Follow him on X @gr4d and find him online at ravejudgerun.com.