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AlbaharShahab VtP Annotation: Masculinity and the Politics of Violence

The sentiment I get from the critical commentary and the essay is the alcoholism in Urban Guatemala is causal for endemic aberrations and an impediment to societal progression. I would caution against overarching force-causing claims by perhaps endorsing a "formation stories" approach elaborated by historical sociologists Daniel Hirschman and Ariail Reed. For example, how does postcolonialism, queer assemblages, and neoliberalism intersect with violence and alcoholism in Urban Guatemala?

AlbaharShahab VtP Annotation: Masculinity and the Politics of Violence

Personally, I like the integration of comical humor in the form of illustration when addressing "gruesome" or difficult matters. The analogy visualized in the progression images between [re]productivity and alcoholism raises a critical question on the heteronormative message implied. It makes me think of the rhetoric used by Progressives in the late-nineteenth-century pertaining to alcoholism, violence, and diminishing productivity in the United States, culminating in the Volstead Act of 1919 which ushered the Prohibition Era.     

AlbaharShahab VtP Annotation: Masculinity and the Politics of Violence

I would implore you to include feminist and queer perspectives and artwork for a broader understanding of how (hyper)masculinity is constructed, challenged, and negotiated in Urban Guatemala. A visualization of the bus routes could further enrich your ethnography too.

PardoDiana VtP Annotation: Toxic archives

The picture does not have an extensive caption, yet it is powerful in itself. It makes me think about the accumulation of evidence, dusty boxes, waxed floors, and unexplored files. I am not sure whether the picture says something about toxicity —it would require the author to guides our analysis with an extensive caption. 

Artifact