Joseph Mello
Joseph Mello received a PhD in political science from the University of Connecticut in 2012. He joined the faculty at DePaul University in 2013, and was awarded tenure in 2019. Professor Mello specializes in the study of law, political theory, and American politics. He teaches a number of courses in these areas including: Law in the Political System (PSC 260); Rights-Based Social Movements (PSC 368); Law and Popular Culture (PSC 265); and Equal Protection of the Law (PSC 263).
Professor Mello’s research focuses on law and social movements. He has published on a variety of topics including: the Supreme Court, cannabis reform, gay rights, civil rights, free speech, and conservative political thought. His most recent book Pot for Profit: Cannabis Legalization, Racial Capitalism, and the Expansion of the Carceral State (Stanford University Press, 2024) explores how the cannabis reform movement has been shaped by neoliberal economic norms and institutions. His first book, The Courts, the Ballot Box, and Gay Rights: How our Governing Institutions Shape the Same-Sex Marriage Debate (University Press of Kansas, 2016) examined the role that “parent’s rights” language played in the debate over same-sex marriage. Professor Mello has also published articles in peer reviewed journals such as Law, Culture, and the Humanities; Law and Social Inquiry; Polity; Studies in Law, Politics, and Society; and Judicature.
In addition to his position as Associate professor of Political Science, Professor Mello is affiliated faculty in DePaul’s Cannabis Studies program. He also serves as faculty advisor for DePaul’s debate team and is a Pre Law advisor for the department.
Professor Mello’s research focuses on law and social movements. He has published on a variety of topics including: the Supreme Court, cannabis reform, gay rights, civil rights, free speech, and conservative political thought. His most recent book Pot for Profit: Cannabis Legalization, Racial Capitalism, and the Expansion of the Carceral State (Stanford University Press, 2024) explores how the cannabis reform movement has been shaped by neoliberal economic norms and institutions. His first book, The Courts, the Ballot Box, and Gay Rights: How our Governing Institutions Shape the Same-Sex Marriage Debate (University Press of Kansas, 2016) examined the role that “parent’s rights” language played in the debate over same-sex marriage. Professor Mello has also published articles in peer reviewed journals such as Law, Culture, and the Humanities; Law and Social Inquiry; Polity; Studies in Law, Politics, and Society; and Judicature.
In addition to his position as Associate professor of Political Science, Professor Mello is affiliated faculty in DePaul’s Cannabis Studies program. He also serves as faculty advisor for DePaul’s debate team and is a Pre Law advisor for the department.
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The United States has experienced a dramatic shift in attitudes towards cannabis use from the 1970s, when only 12% of Americans said that they thought that cannabis should be legal, to today. What once had been a counterculture drug supplied for the black market by socially marginal figures like drug smugglers and hippies has become a big business, dominated by a few large corporations. Pot for Profit, traces the cultural, historical, political, and legal roots of these changing attitudes towards cannabis. The book also showcases interviews with dispensary owners, bud tenders, and other industry employees about their experience working in the legal cannabis industry, and cannabis reform activists working towards legalization. Mello argues that embracing the profit potential of this drug has been key to the success of cannabis reform, and that this approach has problematic economic and racial implications. The story of cannabis reform shows that neoliberalism may not be an absolute barrier to social change, but it does determine the terrain on which these debates must occur. When activists capitulate to these pressures, they may make some gains, but those gains come with strings attached. This only serves to reinforce the totalizing power of the neoliberal ethos on American life. The book concludes by meditating on what, if anything, can be done to move the cannabis legalization movement back onto a more progressive track.
Yet legal cannabis has been something of a disappointment. High barriers to entry prevent many small business owners from breaking into the industry. A 2023 survey found that less than 25% of U.S. cannabis businesses are profitable, with most of the money going to a small group of large multi-state corporate operators led by predominantly white ownership groups. A 2021 report found that less than 2% of U.S. cannabis business owners are Black. These are the somewhat predictable outcomes of concessions cannabis activists made to the business community. States that have yet to pursue legal cannabis should take heed of the dangers of these compromises, or they will end up replicating the very power dynamics that legalization was supposed to disrupt
The United States has experienced a dramatic shift in attitudes towards cannabis use from the 1970s, when only 12% of Americans said that they thought that cannabis should be legal, to today. What once had been a counterculture drug supplied for the black market by socially marginal figures like drug smugglers and hippies has become a big business, dominated by a few large corporations. Pot for Profit, traces the cultural, historical, political, and legal roots of these changing attitudes towards cannabis. The book also showcases interviews with dispensary owners, bud tenders, and other industry employees about their experience working in the legal cannabis industry, and cannabis reform activists working towards legalization. Mello argues that embracing the profit potential of this drug has been key to the success of cannabis reform, and that this approach has problematic economic and racial implications. The story of cannabis reform shows that neoliberalism may not be an absolute barrier to social change, but it does determine the terrain on which these debates must occur. When activists capitulate to these pressures, they may make some gains, but those gains come with strings attached. This only serves to reinforce the totalizing power of the neoliberal ethos on American life. The book concludes by meditating on what, if anything, can be done to move the cannabis legalization movement back onto a more progressive track.
Yet legal cannabis has been something of a disappointment. High barriers to entry prevent many small business owners from breaking into the industry. A 2023 survey found that less than 25% of U.S. cannabis businesses are profitable, with most of the money going to a small group of large multi-state corporate operators led by predominantly white ownership groups. A 2021 report found that less than 2% of U.S. cannabis business owners are Black. These are the somewhat predictable outcomes of concessions cannabis activists made to the business community. States that have yet to pursue legal cannabis should take heed of the dangers of these compromises, or they will end up replicating the very power dynamics that legalization was supposed to disrupt