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Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling

Thursday, September 25, 2025 7:00–8:30 PM

Description

The annual Peter C Schaehrer Memorial Lecture in Peace and Conflict Studies will feature Jason De León (UCLA) speaking about his book Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling, winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction.About the Lecture Over the last decade, many places in the Global South that people once called home have grown inhospitable because of poverty, violence, corruption, and climate change. In response to the out-migration of millions of desperate people seeking refuge, countries like the United States and Mexico have attempted to harden their borders through various security measures. In response, migrants have turned to transnational gangs such as MS13 who have become involved in the human smuggling industry. In 2015, De León began a long-term ethnographic project focused on understanding the daily lives of Honduran smugglers who profit from transporting migrants across the length of Mexico. In this talk, De León will present stories from my recent book and examine the complicated relationship among transnational gangs, the human smuggling industry, and migrant desires for safety and well-being.

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