Search courses · All instructors

PLSC 404: Gangs, Organized Crime, and the State in the Americas

Political Science · 4 credits

This course explores first the theoretical underpinnings of “criminal” collective action in the context of state making and state deterioration, and follows with an analysis of street gangs understood principally as a product of social and economic exclusion, but also as autonomous actors in their own right who are helping to shape political discourse throughout the Americas. We will then proceed with an in-depth analysis of organized crime, focusing primarily on the dynamics of drug cartels in Mexico and para-police militias in Brazil. Finally, we will discuss state policies towards armed criminal groups of all types in the United States and Latin America, critically asking what works and what does not.

Offered in 6 of the 26 listed terms (Winter 2021 to Winter 2027).

Catalog entryBrowse ClassesTextbooks (WWU Bookstore)

Prerequisites

PLSC 261 or PLSC 271 or PLSC 291

From Banner's catalog for Spring 2027. Banner lists only the requisites it enforces, so check the catalog entry too.

Required by (0)

No course lists it as a prerequisite.

Syllabi and course websites

None listed yet.

Suggest a syllabus link

Instructors

Every offering in the listed terms (6 sections)