ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2666-6260

Date of Award

Fall 2025

Language

Spanish

Embargo Period

12-18-2027

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Africana, Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies

Program

Spanish - Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o Studies

First Advisor

Alejandra Bronfman

Committee Members

Ilka Kressner, Carmen Serrano

Keywords

Narcoculture, Puerto Rico, Media and popular culture, Social imaginaries, Drug trafficking, Punitive populism

Subject Categories

Caribbean Languages and Societies | Criminology | Critical and Cultural Studies | Latin American History | Sociology of Culture

Abstract

This dissertation offers an analysis of the emergence and configuration of narcoculture in Puerto Rico from the late twentieth century to the present. It focuses on the intersection of mass media, popular culture, and everyday life to examine how illicit economies and their representations have become integrated into processes of social meaning-making and the contemporary experience of economic modernity in the archipelago. The research is grounded in cultural studies and cultural sociology, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as actor-network theory, symbolic interactionism, and gore capitalism.

Using a qualitative, multi-method approach—including systematic analysis of journalistic coverage, audiovisual materials, music, television, and digital artifacts such as internet memes—the study traces the evolution of social imaginaries and public narratives surrounding drug trafficking, the figure of the bichote, and the police force. The latter is analyzed within the political context of leaderships elected under platforms of punitive populism. This research argues that media and cultural production not only reproduce but also actively shape imaginaries of criminality, security, and social mobility, revealing how narcoculture functions both as a structural symptom and a survival strategy in a context marked by colonial legacies, economic exclusion, and the restructuring of the Puerto Rican state.

Ultimately, this dissertation contributes to contemporary debates on violence, informality, and representation in the Caribbean and Latin America, offering a situated perspective that critically examines the centrality of visual and media discourses in legitimizing new forms of social order.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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Available for download on Saturday, December 18, 2027

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