Josh Kun, “The Kidnapped Country: Violence, Drugs, and the Crisis of Mexican Culture”
The headlines mount daily. Drug gangs battle next to a kindergarten in Tijuana. Mexican streets are lined with military Humvees. Top-ranking police officers are assassinated or issued death threats. Kidnappings of innocent citizens are on the rise. Mexican President Felipe Calderón calls the violence a sign of success that the government is winning the war. But against who? And at what cost? L.A.-based writer and scholar Josh Kun visits Zócalo to explore the current crisis in Mexico within the broader context of contemporary globalization, drawing on personal, cultural, and political …
