Hector Amaya examines how the dramatic escalation of drug violence in Mexico in 2008 transformed how people discussed violence and the rules of participation in the public sphere.

Prologue  vii
Introduction. Trafficking, Publicness, and Violence  1
1. Prelude to Two Wars  25
2. Almost Failing: Violence, Space, and Discourse  57
3. Censoring Narcoculture: Mexican Republicanism and Publicity  91
4. Narcocorridos in the USA: Deterritorialization and the Business of Authenticity  124
5. Bloody Blogs: Publicity and Opacity  158
6. Trust: The Burden of Civics  192
Conclusion. Publicity's Contingent Insularity  213
Notes  225
References  235
Index  251