Category Archives: Illegality

Narco-Geographies, Part III: Urban Speculation and Spectacle

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Teo Ballvé

(Final post in a three-part series, Part I, Part II)  The policies that have made Panama into a commercial and financial global entrepôt have also made this small country into an ideal beachhead for entrepreneurial narcotraffickers. The seemingly ethereal nature … Continue reading →

Posted in City, Development, Drugs, Elites, Guy Debord, Illegality, Political Economy, Spatiality, Spectacle | Leave a comment

Narco-Geographies, Part II: Political Ecology of the Drug Economy

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Teo Ballvé

Tim Hall has recently called on geographers to more actively study organized crime and geographies of the illicit more broadly. Paul Robbins, meanwhile, has said “the political ecology of the drug trade” (2004: 215) remains almost entirely unexplored. The ferocity … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, David Harvey, Drugs, Forests, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Land, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Primitive Accumulation, Spatiality, The State | 4 Comments

Narco-Geographies, Part I: HSBC and Global Money Laundering

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Britain’s biggest bank, HSBC, recently agreed to a record $1.92 billion settlement with U.S. authorities over charges that it laundered billions of dollars tied to Latin American drug cartels, so-called “rogue states,” and foreign terrorist organizations. Although the U.S. Department … Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Elites, Illegality, Networks, Political Economy, Scale, Security, Violence | 2 Comments

Can Colombia’s Peace Talks Succeed?

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Colombia’s fourth and hopefully definitive try at peace talks with the country’s largest rebel group begin today in Oslo, Norway. The previous three tries between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)—once in the 1980s and twice … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Development, Drugs, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Peace, Security, Terror, The State, Violence | Leave a comment

“Land laundering”: How Colombian Paramilitaries Hijack Grassroots Development

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

I wrote a guest blog post for Future Agricultures that gives a straight-forward preview of the talk I’m giving this week at the Global Land Grabs conference hosted by Cornell University. A teaser: With the start of peace negotiations this … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Development, Drugs, Forests, Illegality, Political Ecology, Political Economy, The State, Violence | Leave a comment

Neil Smith and Eric Hobsbawm

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Like so many others I was saddened to hear about Neil Smith’s untimely passing. People who knew him have all mentioned what a kind, warm, down to earth, and funny person he was—in this, I hope I follow his footsteps. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bandits, Development, Historical Materialism, Illegality, Marxism | Leave a comment

Video Abstract: Territories of Life and Death

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

A more in depth written description of my project is forthcoming in the pages of Antipode. Thanks to the entire Antipode crew for the award and to others for their kind words.

Posted in Frontiers, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Peace, Political Ecology, Race & Ethnicity, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Leave a comment

Grassroots Masquerades: ‘Bottom-Up’ Development, Land Laundering, and Frontier State Formation in Colombia

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

My abstract for what’s looking like a symposium-sized AAG session series (including fellow bloggers Stuart Elden and Gastón Gordillo) on “Violence and Space” organized by Simon Springer and Philippe Le Billon: A paramilitary commander in Urabá, a frontier region of northwest Colombia, has always … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Development, Forests, Frontiers, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Peace, Political Ecology, Race & Ethnicity, Security, Spatiality, The State, Violence | Leave a comment

Development-Security Nexus, Part I: And the Drug War…?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

The new issue of Development Dialogue has a great line up of authors and speaks to a lot of issues I’m thinking about. Its main title is “The End of the Development-Security Nexus.” I’ve been reading some of the lit … Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Security | Leave a comment

Op-Ed: Summit of the Americas Post-Mortem

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Last week, I published an op-ed on the recent Summit of the Americas recently held in Cartagena, Colombia. By now, you’ve probably heard about it because of the media frenzy around Secret Service scandal (don’t get me started on that … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique, Drugs, Illegality, Media, Violence | Leave a comment