Dr. Angela Garcia

Biography

Professor Garcia’s work engages historical institutional processes of violence and suffering produced in lived experience. A central theme of her research is the disproportionate burden of addiction, depression, and incarceration on poor families and communities. She focuses on understanding attachments, affect, and practices of intimacy as important registers of politics and economy. Garcia’s recent book, 'Way Leads Lost: Life, Death, Hope Mexico City's Anexos' (Farrar, Straus Giroux, 2024), examines the violence that precedes what families seek in care, protection, and the coercive rehabilitation clinics known as anexos, which are utilized by the working poor. These clinics, heavily criticized for being abusive and ineffective, play a significant role amidst the catastrophic everyday violence associated with the drug war. Garcia's earlier work, 'Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession in Rio Grande' (University of California Press, 2010), explores the relationships between intergenerational heroin use, poverty, and colonial history in northern New Mexico. Her ongoing research addresses the environmental and social impacts of Mexico City’s massive drainage project and the devastation of communities like Santa Rita del Cobre, revealing necessary capacities for resilience amid environmental crises.

Research Interests