Sunday, May 13, 2012
Foucault's Illegality
I was reminded in the Foucault reading (73-103) of acceptable kinds of corruption or illegality that are found in the modern era. Especially in regards to Soviet era Marxist-Leninist regimes that allowed some black markets to flourish simply out of the people's necessity to get certain goods and services. I was wondering if anyone could think up any examples of illegality that's largely acceptable in the US? I thought maybe the Marijuana trade in some jurisdictions only it hardly has the widespread non-observance talked about in the Ancien Regime.
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Illegal seasonal immigration of farm workers from Mexico from the 1950s to the 1980s (pre-Reagan) might also be a good example. I'm no expert and I might just be wrong, but I was under the impression that before the 1980s, seasonal workers were only accepted but for the most part welcomed (doesn't really happen anymore--the border is now so expensive to cross that no farm worker wants/can to do it four times a year).
ReplyDeleteI think the Marijuana use is a good example in a lot of places (in Seattle it is officially the lowest possible priority--they'll ticket a J-walker first), but trade, at least on a large scale, is still pretty illegal.