Introductory description

Narcotics have made the modern world. They have offered insight, relieved pain and ruined lives. Their sheer monetary worth have driven booms, shaped economies, expanded empires, and kept nations on their feet. At the same time, anti-drugs policies have molded modern politics, boosting the expansion of repressive state apparatuses from police forces and border patrols to asylums and prisons.

Drugs, of course, are as old as humanity itself. So is smuggling. As one writer wryly commented, "in the biblical account of our origins, our plight began with the illegal traffic of apples". This course focuses on the emergence of the trade in the four most important modern drugs - opium and their derivatives, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines. The course starts with the role of opium in the creation of the British Empire before moving through the creation of nineteenth century miracle drugs, the onset of prohibition, and the emergence of modern drug cartels.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1) Introduction: What are drugs? What do they do? What role have they played in human development? Why have states sought so strongly to regulate to drug prohibition?

PART I: Opium and Empire

Week 2) The British Cartel: Opium and the creation of the British Empire

Week 3) The First Drug Wars: The Chinese-British Opium Wars

Week 4) Chinese Drug Culture

PART II: From Habit to Addiction

Week 5) Miracle Medicines

Week 6) Theories of Addiction

Week 7) Theories of Addiction at the Margins

PART III: The Beginnings of the International Prohibition Regime

Week 8) Global Drug Prohibition

Week 9) U.S. and European drug controls

Week 10) Killer Highs: Drugs and World War II

Week 11) Japan, meth and the world's first mass incarceration

PART IV: The Modern Drug Trade

Week 12) The Counterculture and Deviant Capitalism

Week 13) Drugs, Guerrillas and the Cold War

Week 14) Cartels and the Killing Fields of Colombia

Week 15) Cartels and the Killing Fields of Mexico

Week 16) U.S. Mass Incarceration

Week 17) Death Penalty Prohibition in Modern Asia

Week 18) The Dilemmas of Legalization

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Subject knowledge: Students should come away with a clear knowledge of the role of narcotics in the creation of the modern world.
• Subject knowledge: Students should get a broader understanding of the kind of interdisciplinary history which interacts with history of medicine, international relations, criminology and economics.
• Key Skills: Students should come away with better written and oral communication skills.
• Cognitive Skills: Students should improve their critical analysis, and their ability to parse complex contemporary issues.
• Subject knowledge: Students should gain a greater understanding of the relationship between international norms and national cultures.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Interdisciplinary

Students will be asked to combine readings of history with those of political science, anthropology, international relations and criminology.

International

The course is global in nature and touches on historiographies of Asia, North and South America and Europe. At a later date, I also hope to introduce a week on Africa.

Subject specific skills

Knowledge of the history and historiography of the narcotics trade. Understanding of the historical context of certain contentious contemporary issues including narcotics, mass incarceration, drug legalization, addiction and harm reduction.

Transferable skills

Critical analytical skills Essay writing Interpersonal and communication skills