On Heroin: America, Capitalism, and the Search for Meaning

The crisis of heroin addiction has become a full blown epidemic in contemporary American society and it is perhaps best articulated as the emblematic pathology of neoliberal globalization. But today, heroin addiction can no longer be reduced to the singular addict. It must also be seen as a collective sickness that references the ongoing collapse of community, the infiltration of technology into our public and biological spaces, as well as the psychological devastation experienced by countless Americans in the 21st century. What follows is a new cognitive map of this crisis, tracing its roots to both the ideological and material power of global capitalism.