Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia
<p>In this paper, I explore the coping mechanisms deployed by shopkeepers in the face of extortion in the port city of Buenaventura, in southwestern Colombia. Relying on six months of fieldwork experience in a hardware shop of Ciudad Blanca, an impoverished neighborhood, I examine the everyday...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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LSE Press
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Illicit Economies and Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/124 |
| _version_ | 1828071987388350464 |
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| author | Felipe Fernández |
| author_facet | Felipe Fernández |
| author_sort | Felipe Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>In this paper, I explore the coping mechanisms deployed by shopkeepers in the face of extortion in the port city of Buenaventura, in southwestern Colombia. Relying on six months of fieldwork experience in a hardware shop of Ciudad Blanca, an impoverished neighborhood, I examine the everyday violence and the responses of the population. Due to the deficient infrastructure in the city, people are forced to build small infrastructural arrangements, such as water storage systems, to access public services. Therefore, the circulation and availability of infrastructural devices such as pipes, hoses, and tanks are vital for the reproduction of life in the city. In this article, I argue that extortion (locally calledvacuna(‘vaccine’)) interferes in the circulation of these vital material commodities, making coping mechanisms crucial in the face of vulnerability and uncertainty. Recent scholarly literature has pointed to the influence of illegal economies in urban planning and organization. Going beyond that, I argue that organized crime interferes in the material practices of the urban poor, turning to the term ‘parasite’ posed by French philosopher Michel Serres to conceptualize this form of interference in the circulation of commodities.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:02:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a7136de41bde429483a94483831e94d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2516-7227 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:02:15Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | LSE Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Illicit Economies and Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-a7136de41bde429483a94483831e94d72023-01-04T15:01:02ZengLSE PressJournal of Illicit Economies and Development2516-72272022-12-014310.31389/jied.124109Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, ColombiaFelipe Fernández0Freie Universität Berlin<p>In this paper, I explore the coping mechanisms deployed by shopkeepers in the face of extortion in the port city of Buenaventura, in southwestern Colombia. Relying on six months of fieldwork experience in a hardware shop of Ciudad Blanca, an impoverished neighborhood, I examine the everyday violence and the responses of the population. Due to the deficient infrastructure in the city, people are forced to build small infrastructural arrangements, such as water storage systems, to access public services. Therefore, the circulation and availability of infrastructural devices such as pipes, hoses, and tanks are vital for the reproduction of life in the city. In this article, I argue that extortion (locally calledvacuna(‘vaccine’)) interferes in the circulation of these vital material commodities, making coping mechanisms crucial in the face of vulnerability and uncertainty. Recent scholarly literature has pointed to the influence of illegal economies in urban planning and organization. Going beyond that, I argue that organized crime interferes in the material practices of the urban poor, turning to the term ‘parasite’ posed by French philosopher Michel Serres to conceptualize this form of interference in the circulation of commodities.</p>https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/124violencecolombian pacificinfrastructuresextortionurban anthropologybuenaventura |
| spellingShingle | Felipe Fernández Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia Journal of Illicit Economies and Development violence colombian pacific infrastructures extortion urban anthropology buenaventura |
| title | Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia |
| title_full | Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia |
| title_fullStr | Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia |
| title_short | Coping with Extortion: On Violence, Parasites, and Water Infrastructures in Buenaventura, Colombia |
| title_sort | coping with extortion on violence parasites and water infrastructures in buenaventura colombia |
| topic | violence colombian pacific infrastructures extortion urban anthropology buenaventura |
| url | https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/124 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT felipefernandez copingwithextortiononviolenceparasitesandwaterinfrastructuresinbuenaventuracolombia |