Media Release 19 April 2021 | SOAS, University of London
A new Special Issue of the International Journal of Drugs Policy (IJDP), led by SOAS University of London, provides empirical research on the convergence of the drugs, development and peacebuilding policy fields, and calls into question a growing reformist agenda that advocates for the developmentalisation of drugs.
Trillions of dollars have been spent on the war on drugs, and the resulting developmental harms of these securitised approaches has been well documented. Yet the tensions and trade-offs that surface when drugs policy and development goals converge, especially in conflict contexts, are insufficiently recognised in dominant academic and policy debates. The Special Issue provides empirical research on this convergence.
“The simultaneous pursuit of counter-narcotics policies, development and peacebuilding have distributional effects that need to be better understood – all good things do not come together” said Jonathan Goodhand, Professor of Conflict Studies at SOAS. “We hope this Special Issue will encourage an open, honest and evidence-based conversation about the drugs-development-peace nexus, recognising the pitfalls as well as the potentialities of this convergence.”
The IJDP special issue comprises 22 research articles, viewpoints and commentaries from the Drugs & (dis)order research project. It spans geographical regions across the global South – from Colombia, passing through Iran and Afghanistan, to Myanmar – focusing on perspectives from the drug- and conflict-affected borderland regions of each county.
“Borderland regions are often treated as breeding grounds for violence and instability, provoked by transnational illicit drug economies. This means borderland communities are likely to be the targets of harsh or highly securitised drug policies that have devastating impacts on their livelihoods.” Patrick Meehan, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at SOAS.
“The contributions in this Special Issue reveal that, far from being passive receptors of external policies, borderland communities often generate new ideas, powerful practices and creative insights that policymakers would do well to listen to and learn from.” Added Orzala Nemat, Director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit.
Based on longitudinal research from the borderlands of these drug-producing countries, the Editors urge policymakers to confront the deleterious effects of pursuing counter-narcotics, development and peacebuilding goals simultaneously. They recommend policymakers pay greater attention to the tough trade-offs, their distributional effects, who decides on these goals, and who bears the costs of these decisions.
“This is about policies, but it’s also about politics,” said Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. “These are political choices that must be made, not technical decisions based on best practice. It’s paramount that the perspectives of those living in drug- and conflict-affected environments are represented in making those political choices.”
Notes to the editor
Download
- International Journal of Drugs Policy Volume 89, Special Issue: Drugs, conflict and development (free to download until 15 June 2021)
- Policy brief: Critical policy frontiers: The drugs-development-peacebuilding trilemma
About Drugs & (dis)order
‘Drugs & (dis)order: building sustainable peacetime economies in the aftermath of war’ is a four-year research project, funded by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund, generating new evidence on how to transform illicit drug economies into peace economies in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. It is an international consortium of internationally recognised organisations. Led by SOAS University of London, project partners are: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), Alcis, Christian Aid, Kachinland Research Centre (KRC), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Organization for Sustainable Development and Research (OSDR), Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA), PositiveNegatives, Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), Universidad de los Andes, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
www.drugs-disorder.soas.ac.uk | Twitter: @drugs_disorder
About the International Journal of Drugs Policy (IJDP)
IJDP provides a forum for the dissemination of current research, reviews, debate, and critical analysis on drug use and drug policy in a global context. It seeks to publish material on the social, political, legal, and health contexts of psychoactive substance use, both licit and illicit. The journal is particularly concerned to explore the effects of drug policy and practice on drug-using behaviour and its health and social consequences. It is the policy of the journal to represent a wide range of material on drug-related matters from around the world.
Available online | ijdp.org | ScienceDirect.com