Angelica Duran-Martinez is assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Brown University, a B.A. in Political Science from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University. Her research focuses on organized crime, violence, and the state in Latin America and has received funding from the United States Institute of Peace, the Social Science Research Council, and the Open Society Foundation through the Drugs, Security, and Democracy fellowship. She has published articles in journals like the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Comparative Political Studies, and Crime, Law and Social Change.

Winner of the American Political Science Associationâs Peter Katzenstein's prize for the best first book in international relations, comparative politics, or political economy
Winner of the IASOC Book Prize

"The book...serve[s] as a solid foundation for scholars to build on and, with any hope, encourage a set of public policies capable of securing a more just and peaceful future for Latin America." -- Juan Albarracín, Universidad Icesi, Latin American Research Review

""This book is well researched and extraordinarily detailed because of the author's extensive fieldwork. ... As lethal drug violence continues to escalate in Latin America, this study is a refreshing view of the subject, and it opens the door for areas of future research. AngélicaDurán-MartÃnez work is an authoritative volume contributing to a growing understanding of the interaction between political climate and lethal drug violence." -- Melody Hicks and Dr. Ben Stickle, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books