Abstract
This article explores independent street-level drug dealers in the socially and economically marginalized neighborhood of Tepito in Mexico City. Research presented here is based on ongoing ethnographic work, and in-depth biographical interviews with drug dealers involved strictly in marijuana sales (17), those offering multiple illicit substances (39), and community members (8) in a neighborhood historically known for sales of contraband. We find that dealing is an adaptive strategy to resist criminal organizations encroaching on the drug market, and efforts by developers at gentrification; both of which would displace the residents from the neighborhood. Our results highlight the pivotal role of the illicit economy in marginalized communities and argues for a more nuanced interpretation of survival strategies among the urban underclass. More work is needed that approaches criminal activity as resistance among the economically dislocated.
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Notes
Walker (2008) took this term “normalization of urban space “directly from the Municipal Planning Document, El Programa de Rescate (Federal 2002).
San Fernando, Centro Especializado para Adolescentes, Reclusorio Norte, and El Centro Federal de Readaptación Social (Cefereso) número 13, CPS “OAXACA”.
See also Hernández and Roush 2008 who note that the term chilango is slang that refers to Mexico City residents as well as a fish that thrives in dirty water.
We engaged in initial research between 2016 and 2018 and then additional fieldwork and interviews were conducted by Chomczyński from 2019-2023.
According to our subjects and secondary sources, La Union de Tepito had a historical presence in the neighborhood, but residents and dealers had accommodated their activities and were accustomed to their existence (InSight Crime 2022).
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Guy, R., Chomczyński, P.A. Urban Marginality, Neighborhood Dynamics, and the Illicit Drug Trade in Mexico City. Qual Sociol 46, 535–554 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-023-09546-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-023-09546-6