An examination of how drugs policies and programmes intersect with conflict, peace, health and development in Myanmar.
Five considerations for international actors trying to engage with drugs policy in Myanmar
Based on analysis of how drugs policies and programmes intersect with conflict, peace, health and development in Myanmar.
International Journal of Drug Policy Special Issue: Drugs, conflict and development
Empirical research on the convergence of the drugs, development and peacebuilding policy fields.
The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in Northern Myanmar, part three: Legal pluralism & the challenge of everyday justice
This paper provides and overview of the activities of a large drug eradication movement called Pat Jasan in northern Myanmar.
The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in northern Myanmar, part two: Deep culture & cultural psychology
This paper intends to understand better the cultural and psychological response to worsening drug issues that underpin the rise of Pat Jasan as a mass social movement.
The substitution program on trial: progress and setbacks of the peace agreement in the policy against illicit crops in Colombia
This paper examines the design and implementation of the Colombian national illicit crop substitution program that was included in the Peace Agreement.
Dynamic borderlands–The challenge of adapting to hardening borders in Nangarhar and Nimroz
This paper looks at local effects of recent changes in how the international boders of two Afghan provinces, Nangarhar and Nimroz, are governed.
‘Whatever we have, we owe it to coca’. Insights on armed conflict and the coca economy from Argelia, Colombia
This paper argues that rural development and engagement with local governance mechanisms in drug-producing regions are paramount to address effectively the problem of illicit crops.
The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in Northern Myanmar, part one: Origins & reactions
An introduction to the origins and emergence of Pat Jasan, a social movement that emerged among the Kachin population of Myanmar.
Tough trade-offs Coca crops and agrarian alternatives in Colombia
This article compares coca with mainstream agrarian economies in Colombia. On the one hand, due to coca producers can escape from the ‘reproductive squeeze’ and extreme pattern of land concentration that affect other peasants; on the other, coca becomes an unending source of risk and distress. This contradiction puts peasants in front of very tough trade-offs, which in turn demand a careful reconsideration of what ‘alternative’ development can mean in the Colombian context.
Cocalero women and peace policies in Colombia
This article looks at the impact of the coca economy (considered a war economy) on women and argues that , policies pursuing a transition from war to peace, such as the ones that emerged from the 2016 Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla, must incorporate a gender perspective in order to acknowledge the social progress that women can achieve in war scenarios.
Measuring progress towards SDG16 in Afghanistan: Ignoring the elephant in the room
Viewpoint published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. By Orzala Nemat and Adam Pain
Ecologies of drug war and more-than-human health: The case of a chemical at war with a plant
Drawing on an ecological approach, this article traces how the political-economy of drug wars are locally materialised in relation to health. In particular, it traces the different ways the chemical glyphosate used in aerial fumigation of coca crops in Colombia is materialised.
Precarity, poverty and poppy: Encountering development in the uplands of Shan State, Myanmar
The paper argues that if the current agenda to developmentalise drug policy is to make a meaningful contribution to the lives of the rural poor in drug-producing regions in Myanmar and beyond, it must confront the fact that for many households the decision to cultivate opium has been a response to the very processes of market-led rural development that policymakers claim will alleviate poverty.
Explaining Afghanistan’s failed counter-narcotics policy and opportunities for policy engagement
Five reasons why counter-narcotics policy ambitions have failed in Afghanistan and reflections on what this means for those seeking to inform counter-narcotics policymaking and interventions.
COVID-19 in Colombia’s borderlands
Podcast: Drugs & (dis)order researchers discuss how COVID-19 has affected communities and their research in Colombia’s borderlands.
Drugs and development in Afghanistan: national policy and actor analysis
An overview of counter-narcotic laws, policies and programmes in Afghanistan since 2001 and what it means for policy engagement today.
Journeys to borderlands always seem to lead to unexpected surprises
Jonathan Goodhand’s journey to a remote Afghan village, gave him a rare glimpse into the intricacies of borderland political struggles.
Jessica: coca, estigmatización, violencia y desarrollo en colombia
Jessica es una líder social de Putumayo, un departamento en la frontera sur de Colombia. Este cómic fue creado por Inty Grillos, Colorbia. Leer comic
Voces desde los territorios fronterizos 2020
Los testimonios de este informe aportan ideas valiosas sobre cómo las drogas ilícitas –y las políticas de drogas– afectan las dinámicas de violencia, paz, pobreza, desarrollo, inseguridad y resiliencia.