“Addicts” and the Disruptive Politics of Showing
“Addicts” and the Disruptive Politics of Showing
This chapter interrogates the notion of the “addict” as the dehumanized internal enemy perpetuated by the drug war. Anti–drug war activists see this notion of the addict as a central part of what they call the “fantasy world” or “ideology” or “mindset” produced by the drug war. This chapter begins by considering the discursive production of this fantasy world that the anti–drug war movement fights against. Those in the movement understand that most people they engage with—politicians, police, medical personal, family members—relate to and understand drug use and users through the lens of this fantasy world. The chapter then considers one of the most significant political tactics utilized by the anti–drug war movement in their attempt to “shatter mindsets.” It is argued and ethnographically illustrated that a disruptive politics of showing is a first-step political tactic by which anti–drug war activists disrupt the dehumanizing fantasy world of the drug war by enacting the “otherwise” they hope one day will become the new nonnormative norm.
Keywords: drug war, addict, war, fantasy, ideology, political activity, hermeneutics
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