Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses forms of agrochemical violence in areas of heavy agrarian activity where the spraying of herbicides and insecticides led to long-term contamination of drinking water and resulted in the loss of bio-diversity, and ultimately aquatic and rural dead zones. It explains the epistemologies of water by indigenous populations in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile and videogames on and created by Tarahumara indigenous people living in Chihuahua, Mexico. The book deals with a painting describing a form of slow violence seemingly unrelated to extractivism: the aerial spraying of glyphosate over coca and poppy crops as part of the so-called war on drugs. It addresses this form of institutional violence where a war waged against illegal drugs is indifferent to the deferred devastation it inflicts upon human and non-human innocent victims. The book explores the local repercussion of global neoliberal policies.