Gangs and Youth Violence

Bloods. Crips. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The 18th St. Gang (M-18). Latin Kings. The names have become synonymous with senseless violence. Both feared and fetishized, the street gang became a focal point of urban politics in the United States and Latin America during the late twentieth century. Beginning with the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s, young, poor, minorities have found themselves at the center of a socio-economic crisis that has been accompanied by the rise of zero-tolerance policing. For the purposes of this class, the youth gang phenomenon will serve as a window in to the experience of racial, ethnic and economic marginalization under late capitalism. We will explore the context that gives rise to gang violence through a combination of anthropological, sociological, and historical approaches. By the end of the quarter, students will be familiar with the macro-social factors that shape both gangs and the politics of urban violence in the Americans.