Coca, Culture & Politics in Latin Amer

Catalog description

Coca has been closely connected to religion and culture in Andean South America for millennia. The plant was both cultivated and controlled by the Inca and Spanish empires. Today, peasant coca growers are part of new Latin American political movements. Global demand for the drug cocaine, made from coca, finances insurgencies, civil wars, and criminal violence in Latin America. The United States and international bodies prosecute a "War on Drugs" that targets peasant growers and traditional use as much as it does criminal organizations. This course explores the local culture and international relations of coca and cocaine. It focuses on the Latin Americans who produce and consume coca and are victimized by the violence of both the drug trade and suppression efforts. Fulfills Core Requirements: Diversity (DIV); Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) *OR* Cultural Elective (CE). Business Majors cannot use this course to fulfill both IDS and CE.