Pablo Escobar's Terrorism is Viewed Through the Lens of Actor Network Theory.

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 8: Crime, Media, and Populist Discourse

Abstract

Besides being a drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar was a terrorist. In Colombia, his fame stemmed from exploding bombs and creating panic. Accusers charged him with bombing an Avianca aeroplane. Additionally, he designed the Narco motorbike, which gained popularity for assassinating the minister of justice, Lara Bonilla. Narco-Culture tends to categorise Escobar’s violence as produced by capitalism's pursuit of illegal wealth and the need for consumption. On the other hand, it tends to ignore that other actors might be accountable for the intricate portrayal of violence in Escobar's narrative. For example, it is important to understand that Escobar’s violence manifests the complexity of a deep-seated post-colonial conflict because of American Interventionism. To understand violence differently than the Narco-Culture data allows, this paper must deconstruct it to identify new actors and reconstruct a decolonial understanding. By focusing on examining Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory (ANT). This paper explores an alternative understanding of terrorism that incorporates controversies. Data is a manifestation of inclusion, not of power.

Author

• Catalina Jaramillo, University of bath