Drugs, law, people, place and the state: ongoing regulation, resistance and change. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Williams, Stewart; Warf, Barney
• Is Part Of: Space & polity. Volume 20:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 9
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: drugs -- geography -- law; Political geography -- Periodicals; Regionalism -- Periodicals; Decentralization in government -- Periodicals; Nationalism -- Periodicals; 320.1205
• DOI: 10.1080/13562576.2016.1138675
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1356-2576

Abstract

Abstract : We introduce this special issue firstly by tracing drugs from their traditional, cultural and religious uses through to their roles as commodities in colonial relations and now the global economy. We secondly explore the shifting nature of drugs and drug use in different places and times as shaped by politics, especially state regulation and the law. Thirdly, given the complexity as well as contingency of drugs, we survey a wide range of relevant theoretical approaches, but suggest that a critical analysis attend to their spatial framing and geography. Fourthly, and finally, we summarize the eight papers comprising this collection.