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ABSTRACT
This article discusses the ways in which popular culture reflects and reinforces criminal governance structures in Kingston, Jamaica, where so-called "dons" are central to extra-state forms of political order. In order to appreciate why donmanship has developed as a durable structure of rule and belonging, attention must be paid not only to the dons' informal provision of material services to inner-city residents, but also to the imaginative, aesthetic underpinnings of criminal authority. Drawing on work linking aesthetics, politics, and the body, the article examines the emotional and ethical work that specific texts, sounds, performative practices, and visual images do. [Keywords: Jamaica, crime, popular culture, aesthetics, politics, governance, urban]
Introduction
In contexts of urban marginality in both the Global south and North, criminal organizations have become so powerful and institutionalized that they can be understood as extra-state governance structures. these organizations have emerged as key actors in the provision of security and social welfare, developing non-democratic but relatively legitimate systems of urban order; they may evolve into structures of rule and belonging that entail what can be understood as political subjectivities. In some cases, leaders and organizations that are formally regarded as illegal or criminal take on the functions and symbols of the state, complementing or even replacing the formal state. Examples include criminal governance systems in brazilian favelas (Arias 2006), Mexican cities (Davis 2010) and south African townships (standing 2003), and of course the Italian mafia (blok 1974). In inner-city Jamaica, "dons"-neighborhood leaders who are often linked to criminal organizations-enjoy considerable power and respect, as evidenced in the popular protests surrounding the extradition of alleged gang leader christopher "Dudus" coke to the United states in 2010. these dons and their organizations are often considered more legitimate than politicians and other formal state leaders.
The continued existence of criminal governance structures-like other forms of political order-relies both on the authority and legitimacy of individual leaders and on the institutionalization of the collective (such as the gang or cartel). I argue that the continuation of Jamaica's donmanship relies on the iconization of individuals-an aesthetic fashioning of an elevated social status that combines religious, political, and celebrity culture elements-as well as the naturalization of the power structure surrounding these individuals. this consolidation of power is achieved...