The free zone: Gang dynamics, de-differentiation, and pseudo-statehood in The Wire. (March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nitschke, Claudia
• Is Part Of: Cultural dynamics. Volume 28:Number 1(2016:Mar.)
• Page Start: 103
• Page End: 118
• Publication Date: 2016-03
• Subjects: Deregulation -- new capitalism -- René Girard -- sovereignty -- The Wire; Social sciences -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals; Social change -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1177/0921374015623391
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0921-3740

Abstract

This article scrutinises concepts of deregulation against the backdrop of the 'New Capitalism' as presented in the episode 'Hamsterdam' in the American TV series, The Wire : when the major in charge of the Western District of Baltimore secretly decides to pull the police force from the war on drugs in order to re-dedicate their energy to police work proper, he de facto legalises drugs in a specific quarter of his district. Read through theories of statehood and sovereignty, this episode sheds light on self-perception of gangs within an ailing communal system, and on the difficulties with which the protagonists of The Wire constantly grapple, shifting the focus from the seemingly self-sustaining microcosm of West Baltimore to the superstructure that presupposes and enables the mechanisms of Baltimore's public sphere.