Conference: Theorising the drug war

Theorising the Drug War: Unpacking the ideologies that generated and continue to sustain the ‘war on drugs, will be held at the University of Essex on the 29th and 30th of June (2017). The conference brings together activists and researchers specialised in the area of drug policy, critical theory, and human rights. By bringing together these different fields of expertise, the aim of this event is to expand the scope of research into drug policy by viewing drug prohibition as a contemporary example of the role that ideology continues to play in questions of the law. Speakers include:

• Asha Bandele, Senior Director at Drug Policy Alliance and author of The Prisoner’s Wife (Washington Square Press, 2000).

• Dave Boothroyd, Professor of Media and Culture, University of Lincoln, author of Ethical Subjects in Contemporary Culture(Edinburgh University Press, 2013); Culture On Drugs: Narco-cultural Studies of High Modernity (Manchester University Press, 2006), among others.

• Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director, Release. Niamh, also a barrister, has co-authored Release’s two most recent policy papers ‘The Numbers in Black And White: Ethnic Disparities In The Policing And Prosecution Of Drug Offences In England And Wales’ and has also co-authored and edited a number of Release’s advice booklets including ‘Drugs and the Law’ and ‘Sex Workers and the Law’.

• Rick Lines, Executive Director, Harm Reduction International and member of the Strategic Advisory Group to the UN on Injecting Drug Use and HIV and of the Global Fund Human Rights Reference Group; co-author of Drug Control and Human Rights in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

• Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Reader in Law, Birkbeck College, University of London, author of various publications, including Being Against the World: Rebellion and Constitution(Routledge, 2008) and What if Latin America Ruled the World? (Bloomsbury, 2010).

Date: Thursday 29 – Friday 30 June 2017 | Day 1: 09:00 – 17:00, Day 2: 10:00 – 17:00 | EBS.2.2 (Essex Business School) Organised by Kojo Koram (Lecturer, Essex School of Law), Nayeli Urquiza (Lecturer, Kent Law School) and the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, with support from the Open Society Foundations Global Drug Policy Programme. Please note, the conference is free to attend, and spaces are limited. Tickets are reserved on a first come, first served basis. 
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