RT Article
T1 “Absolutely the worst drug I’ve ever seen”: Risk, governance, and the construction of the illicit fentanyl “crisis”
JF Theoretical criminology
VO 24
IS 4
SP 612
OP 632
A1 Kennedy, Liam
A2 Coelho, Madelaine
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/174579221X
AB In this article, we analyze 1027 articles published in four newspapers in order to trace the construction of the fentanyl “crisis” across social contexts. Our analysis reveals that Chinese producers and Mexican cartels were censured for bringing this deadly substance into Canada and the United States as the number of fentanyl-related deaths and overdoses increased. Indeed, news media construct this “illicit” form of fentanyl as foreign and risky. We contend that this coverage diverts attention away from the consequences of the neoliberal policies that contribute to opioid use and plays an important role in stoking feelings of insecurity that justify a disconcertingly wide range of governing practices that aim to secure the homeland against external threats, advance the state’s interests abroad, and discipline larger swaths of the population at home.
K1 Drug scare
K1 Fentanyl
K1 Insecurity
K1 Media
K1 Xenophobia
DO 10.1177/1362480619841907