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

Join us for a discussion of Ana Villarreal's new book, The Two Faces of Fear: Violence and Inequality in the Mexican Metropolis (Oxford, 2024). Ana Villarreal is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University. She will be joined by Yanilda González, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Hosted by the BU Undergraduate Sociological Association in collaboration with the Center for Latin American Studies and the Sociology Department.

About the Book: Over the past two decades, increased criminal and state violence has profoundly transformed everyday life in Mexico. In The Two Faces of Fear, Ana Villarreal draws on two years of qualitative fieldwork conducted during a major turf war in Monterrey, Mexico to trace the far-reaching impact of fear and violence on social ties, daily practices, and everyday spaces. The book puts forth a new approach to the study of emotion and provides tangible evidence of how quickly fear worsens inequality beyond Mexico and the "war on drugs."