Through a series of rich photographs, Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio tells a compelling story about the war on drugs in Central America. Entirely bilingual in both English and Spanish, the book focuses on the country of Guatemala, now the principle point of transit for the cocaine that is produced in the Andes and bound for the United States and Canada. Alongside a spike in the use of crack cocaine, Guatemala City has witnessed the proliferation of Pentecostal drug rehabilitation centers. The centers are sites of abuse and torment, but also lifesaving institutions in a country that does not provide any other viable social service to those struggling with drug dependency.
Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio explores these centers as architectural forms, while also showcasing the cultural production that takes place inside them, including drawings and letters created by those held captive. This stunning work of visual ethnography humanizes those held inside these centers, breaks down stereotypes about drug use, and sets the conditions for a hemispheric conversation about prohibitionist practices – by revealing intimate portraits of a population held hostage by a war on drugs.
Through a series of rich photographs, Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio tells a compelling story about the war on drugs in Central America. Entirely bilingual in both English and Spanish, the book focuses on the country of Guatemala, now the principle point of transit for the cocaine that is produced in the Andes and bound for the United States and Canada. Alongside a spike in the use of crack cocaine, Guatemala City has witnessed the proliferation of Pentecostal drug rehabilitation centers. The centers are sites of abuse and torment, but also lifesaving institutions in a country that does not provide any other viable social service to those struggling with drug dependency.
Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio explores these centers as architectural forms, while also showcasing the cultural production that takes place inside them, including drawings and letters created by those held captive. This stunning work of visual ethnography humanizes those held inside these centers, breaks down stereotypes about drug use, and sets the conditions for a hemispheric conversation about prohibitionist practices – by revealing intimate portraits of a population held hostage by a war on drugs.
List of Images / Lista de imagenes
Acknowledgments / Agradecimientos
Introduction / Introducción
1. Façade / Fachada
2. Captivity / Cautiverio
3. Freedom / Libertad
4. Art / Arte
Conclusion / Conclusión
Works Consulted / Obras consultados
Kevin Lewis O’Neill is a professor in the Department for the Study
of Religion and the director of the Centre for Diaspora and
Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto.
Benjamin Fogarty-Valenzuela is a Mansueto Institute Fellow and
Sociology Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Chicago.
"Intensely probing and deeply moving , Art of Captivity / Arte del
Cautiverio shatters our abstractions of how the war on drugs
refigures social life and humanness across the Americas. People's
arts of living and escaping are not lost to history in this
creative photo-ethnography, which so hauntingly redirects our
ethical and political imagination."--João Biehl, author of Vita:
Life in a Zone of Social Abandonment and co-editor of Unfinished:
The Anthropology of Becoming
" Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio offers a very different
perspective on the effects of the war on drugs, on incarceration,
on the role of religion. This book raises a lot of interesting -
and urgent - questions about violence, addiction, and creativity in
the midst of captivity. Superbly written and supported by powerful
and jarring images, Kevin O'Neill and Benjamin Fogarty-Valenzuela
provide enough context that even readers not familiarized with
Guatemala can follow the narrative. This unique book will generate
lots of conversations with both undergraduates and general
readers." --Javier Auyero, University of Texas, Austin
"This is an urgent work that uncovers a world of captivity,
regeneration, and collective impotence. The text is concise,
poignant, and perfectly clear, and the photos are
striking."--Claudio Lomnitz, Columbia University
" Art of Captivity / Arte del Cautiverio takes us into the nearly
invisible world of Pentecostal drug rehabilitation centers in
Guatemala City where pastors incarcerate drug users who then wait
long days--years even--for the miracle of salvation from addiction.
By means of their deeply emplaced and probing photo-ethnography,
Kevin O'Neill and Benjamin Fogarty-Valenzuela serve as powerful
witnesses to the stultifying life inside these facilities as well
as the artistic efforts and collaborative insights of the
captives."--Carol Hendrickson, Marlboro College
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