From South Central to Southside: Gang Transnationalism, Masculinity, and Disorganized Violence in Belize City
Temple University Press, 2024
eISBN: 978-1-4399-2335-1 | Paper: 978-1-4399-2334-4 | Cloth: 978-1-4399-2333-7
See other books on: Caribbean & Latin American Studies | Criminology | Masculinity | South Central | Urban
See other titles from Temple University Press
eISBN: 978-1-4399-2335-1 | Paper: 978-1-4399-2334-4 | Cloth: 978-1-4399-2333-7
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
ABOUT THIS BOOK
When he visited in 2011, sociologist Adam Baird wondered what the Bloods and Crips were doing in Southside Belize City. He soon discovered that migrant Belizean members of colors gangs from South Central Los Angeles were deported there in the 1980s. Once established “back home,” membership in the Bloods and Crips was seen as an aspirational pathway to manhood for the urban underclass.
From South Central to Southside charts the genesis and evolution of a transnational gang culture. Baird provides firsthand interviews with gang members and “narco” families and explains the surprising source of Belize City’s severe violence and skyrocketing homicide rates. He identifies gang violence in the U.S. and Belize as stemming from populations blighted by historical, brutal inequality and marginalization. Analyzing the gendered dynamics as young men and women face the temptations, risks, and dangers of gang life, Baird shines a light on “chronic vulnerability" in Belize City.
From South Central to Southside charts the genesis and evolution of a transnational gang culture. Baird provides firsthand interviews with gang members and “narco” families and explains the surprising source of Belize City’s severe violence and skyrocketing homicide rates. He identifies gang violence in the U.S. and Belize as stemming from populations blighted by historical, brutal inequality and marginalization. Analyzing the gendered dynamics as young men and women face the temptations, risks, and dangers of gang life, Baird shines a light on “chronic vulnerability" in Belize City.
See other books on: Caribbean & Latin American Studies | Criminology | Masculinity | South Central | Urban
See other titles from Temple University Press
