Working around drug war-torn communities on the U.S.-Mexico border

这项拟议的研究利用了我的开创性博士研究，以寻求解决美墨边境社区周围毒品问题的替代方法。这个想法是在墨西哥等拉美国家开始认识到无效和有害的毒品政策的高社会经济负担和人员成本的时候出现的。贩毒现象是一个严重的安全挑战，在过去20年里阻碍了墨西哥的发展，并要求采取新的方法来解决这一问题。我的研究成功地将国家犯罪的视角扩展到新的背景下，以解释处于前所未有的暴力毒品冲突中心的边境社区的经历，在这场冲突中，多个国家行为者在冲突双方都活跃或共谋。关键发现表明，国家安全行动涉及军事化警察行动打击贩毒组织，不仅未能解决美墨边境社区周围的问题，反而加剧和引发暴力。通过对困扰边境社区日常生活的毒品问题提供更微妙的理论理解，我的研究成果具有重大潜力，可以加强解决这一问题的实际战略。实现这一目标的重要第一步将是资助一项后续研究研究，以探索在冲突后环境研究中常见的发展框架作为安全方法的替代方案的潜在应用。我提议在华雷斯进行一次短暂的实地考察，在那里我将通过与华雷斯非政府组织(NGO)和公民社区委员会(CCCS)的工作人员进行半结构化访谈来收集数据。此外，我计划访问华雷斯的两个机构的学者将被招募为研究参与者，然后所有个人都将被邀请参加以社区为基础的活动。这些活动将是研究影响研讨会和会议小组，我将在那里与用户组分享研究结果。后续研究的目的是：a)确定第三部门组织确定为优先事项的当前问题和挑战；b)检查这些组织的工作在多大程度上满足当地社区的需求。对华雷斯冲突后局势的分析有助于更好地了解毒品战争和边境社区的基本发展需要，这将为当地非政府组织和CCCS的工作议程提供信息，甚至为决策者制定毒品政策的决策提供信息。在进行这项后续研究后，我计划访问墨西哥城和阿瓜斯卡连特斯的学术机构，那里的学术界对了解有组织犯罪造成的不安全感和政府应对措施的有效性非常感兴趣。第二系列机构访问将在美国进行，特别是在埃尔帕索和弗拉格斯塔夫。这些地区的大学经过精心挑选，以最大限度地发挥建立国际网络的潜力。在所有六个学术机构中，我将有一个绝佳的机会与学术受众交流我的博士研究成果，因为这将培养各种能力发展和知识交流前景。最后，我将在爱丁堡大学工作九个月，在那里我的目标是进一步发展我早期的学术生涯--最近毕业的博士学位。我计划通过早期职业发展组合和合同研究员方案，全面参与法学院提供的培训课程。正如这份提案中的工作计划所显示的那样，我将通过与我的导师和爱丁堡法学院经验丰富的社会法律研究人员合作，并在他们的支持下，解决我目前在学术形象方面的差距(出版出版物和开发影响力)。

The proposed research draws on my pioneering doctoral research to seek an alternative approach in tackling the drug problem around U.S.-Mexico border communities. The idea emerges at a time when Latin American countriessuch as Mexico, begin to recognise the high socioeconomic burden and human cost of ineffective and perniciousdrug policies. The drug trafficking phenomenon is a serious security challenge that has obstructed development inMexico in the last two decades and begs for new approaches to address the problem.My research successfully extended a state crime perspective, to a new context to explicate the experience ofborder communities at the centre of an unprecedented violent drug conflict in which multiple state actors wereactive or complicit on both sides of the conflict. Key findings evidence that state security operations involvingmilitarised police operations to fight drug trafficking organisations have not only failed to address the problemaround the U.S.-Mexico border communities, but exacerbate and engender violence. Through its provision of amore nuanced theoretical understanding of the drug problem blighting everyday life for border communities, myresearch findings have significant potential to enhance practical strategies to address this problem. An importantfirst-step towards this would be funding for a follow-up research study to explore the potential application ofdevelopment frameworks common in studies of post-conflict settings, but hitherto absent from criminology as analternative to the security approaches.I propose to conduct a short fieldwork trip to Juarez where I will collect data through semi-structured interviewswith staff members based at non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civic community councils (CCCs) inJuarez. Also, academics from the two institutions I plan to visit in Juarez will be recruited as research participants.All individuals will be then invited to take part in the community-based events. These events will be researchimpact workshops and meeting groups where I will share findings with user groups. The purpose of the follow-upresearch is to a) identify the current problems and challenges set as priorities by third sector organisations and b)to examine the extent to which the work of these organisations address local community needs. An analysis of thepost-conflict situation in Juarez contributes to a better understanding of the basic development needs of drug war tornborder communities that will inform the working agendas of NGOs and CCCs on the ground and indeed, informpolicy makers decisions in formulating drug policies.After conducting this follow-up study I plan to visit academic institutions in Mexico City and Aguascalientes where there is significant interest within academic circles in understanding insecurities caused by organised crime and the effectiveness of government responses. A second series of institution visits will take place in the US, specifically in El Paso, Flagstaff. The universities in these locations have been selected carefully in order to maximise the potential of building international networks. Across all six academic institutions I'll have an excellent opportunity to communicate my doctoral findings with academic audiences as it will cultivate a variety of capacity development and knowledge exchange prospects.Finally, I'll be based at Edinburgh University for nine months where I aim to further develop my early academic careeras a recent doctorate graduate. I plan to fully engage in training sessions offered within the School of Law through Early Career Development Portfolio and Contract Researcher Programme. As the work plan in this proposal shows I will be addressing the current gaps in my academic profile (producing publications and developing impact) by working alongside, and with the support of, my mentor and experienced socio-legal researchers at the Edinburgh Law School.