Hitting the powder in the Andes

Andean Cocaine by Paul Gootenberg is an engaging look at the evolution of the now illicit commodity known as cocaine as it transformed (was transformed?) from a product of national pride and symbol of modern progress to the fourth scourge of humanity. Unlike the other article that we had read this work places cocaine within the context of Peruvian history. Specifically he adopts a type of 'glocal' approach that keeps his analysis, "grounded in a close , long-term regional study of the world's premier cocaine complex of greater Huánuco Peru, the drug's little-known historical homeland and haven." (7) In doing so this was a effective study in analyzing the commodity chain and the forces that defined that chain. As others have said, he seems reluctant to place agency but given his statement in the introduction that the, "Huánuco-Lima-Washington axis is the key, in my argument, to illuminating cocaine's transmutations," there is an apparent tip to give credit to politically constructed actors; especially in dealing with the anti-cocaine crusades and their effects on Peru. This book works well with other narratives about the spread of the world-system but raises new questions as to the motivations behind those who shaped the market and why some 'drugs' are legitimate and others are scourges.