ABSTRACT

This article undertakes a global review of women’s involvement in cultivation, processing, transporting and selling drugs. It is underpinned by twin theoretical concerns. First, we recap and critique the emancipation thesis, especially from a global perspective. Secondly, we examine how diverse global contexts shape women’s involvement and the roles they occupy in these economies, challenging the notion that women’s involvement in the drug trade is novel, increasing, or attributable to emancipation. Our review shows that women are ubiquitous to the drug trade and women’s labor is fundamental to it. Rather than emancipation, we find that contextually-embedded experiences of gender shape women’s involvement. We conclude by identifying and thematizing factors better able to explain women’s participation in the illegal drug trade and guide future work.

摘要

本文对妇女参与种植、加工、运输和销售毒品的情况进行了全球回顾。它得到双重理论关注的支持。首先，我们回顾和批判解放论点，尤其是从全球视角。其次，我们研究了不同的全球背景如何影响女性的参与以及她们在这些经济体中扮演的角色，挑战女性参与毒品交易是新奇的、增加的或可归因于解放的观念。我们的审查表明，妇女在毒品交易中无处不在，而妇女的劳动是其中的基础。我们发现，嵌入情境的性别体验决定了女性的参与，而不是解放。最后，我们确定了能够更好地解释女性参与非法毒品交易并指导未来工作的因素并将其主题化。