Debating the Drug War: Race, Politics, and the Media

The War on Drugs has been a major topic of debate for 40 years, with questions about its failure or success animating mass media and public debate. Debating the Drug War examines 30 years of newspaper content and readers' comments to explore how proponents and critics of drug policy and incarceration frame their arguments in mass media. It also looks at the contemporary public debate on the War on Drugs through an analysis of online news articles. The book illuminates how ideas about race, politics, society, and crime are advanced, interpreted, and contested, and how people form a sense of their racial selves in debates over policy issues tied to racial inequality.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 188 pages
Publication date: 17 March 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Since President Nixon coined the term "War on Drugs," it has brought about a significant shift in how people perceive and discuss criminal justice practices and drug laws. The term conjures up images of militarization, punishment, violence, combat, and the possibility of victory. It is not surprising, therefore, that questions such as whether the War on Drugs has failed or can be won have animated mass media and public debate for the past 40 years.

Debating the Drug War: An Analysis of 30 Years of Newspaper Content examines the social and cultural contours of this heated debate and explores how proponents and critics of the controversial social issues of drug policy and incarceration frame their arguments in mass media. Additionally, it looks at the contemporary public debate on the War on Drugs through an analysis of readers' comments drawn from the comments sections of online news articles.

Through a discussion of the findings and their implications, the book illuminates how ideas about race, politics, society, and crime, as well as forms of evidence and statistics such as rates of arrest and incarceration or the financial costs of drug policies and incarceration, are advanced, interpreted, and contested. Furthermore, the book will bring to light how people form a sense of their racial selves in debates over policy issues tied to racial inequality, such as the War on Drugs, through narratives that connect racial categories to concepts such as innocence, criminality, free will, and fairness.

Debating the Drug War offers readers a variety of concepts and theoretical perspectives that they can use to make sense of these vital issues in contemporary society.

Weight: 254g
Dimension: 139 x 215 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138239692