The Two Faces of Fear: Violence and Inequality in the Mexican Metropolis

Join Professor Ana Villarreal for a lecture on her new book, The Two Faces of Fear: Violence and Inequality in the Mexican Metropolis (OUP, 2024). Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted during a major turf war in Monterrey, Mexico, the book traces the far-reaching impact of fear and violence on social ties, daily practices, and everyday spaces. It brings two seemingly contradictory faces of fear into focus--its ability to both isolate and concentrate people and resources deepening inequality. More broadly, the book puts forth a new approach to the study of emotion and provides tangible evidence of how quickly fear worsens inequality at the onset of crises beyond Mexico and the "war on drugs."