Tales from La Catedral: the Narco and the Reconfiguration of Prison Social Order in Colombia

Prof Manuel Iturralde, Universidad de los Andes

Abstract:

Most of the literature that discusses the topic of drug trafficking and prisons in Latin America has focused on the impact of the war on drugs on the significant increase of the prison population across the region. Recently, anthropological, sociological and socio-legal studies on Latin American prisons have opened a promising line of research, which focuses on the effect of the punitive turn and the war on drugs in prisons’ social order and governance. Despite the relevance of the approaches mentioned above for understanding the intense transformation of Latin American prisons during the last decades, little has been said of the instrumental and symbolic role of the Narco in Latin American prisons social order, as the archetypical figure that embodies the immense power of drug barons and the cartels they lead.

Focusing on Colombia, through the case study of Pablo Escobar and La Catedral (the prison where he was held for a brief period), this paper will discuss the ways in which the Narco plays similar roles to those performed by prison groups and gangs in terms of social order in prisons, also replacing the State in their government and in the provision of goods and services. Nevertheless, due to his immense power and amount of resources, the Narco takes some of the features of Latin American prisons and social order, as well as the latter’s relationship to State authority to a different level. The Narco has also fostered new dynamics, which have reconfigured prisons’ spaces, markets, social order and power relations.

Biography:

Manuel Iturralde is an associate professor at the School of Law of Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá-Colombia) and is currently Co-director of the Prisons Group (a legal clinic). His research and academic interests focus on Criminology, Sociology of Punishment, Sociology of Law and Criminal Law.

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Tales from La Catedral - Prof Manuel Iturralde Workshop