Anthony W. Fontes

Anthony W. Fontes is a human geographer and ethnographer. His scholarship focuses on theories of violence, illicit economies, prison worlds, immigration, and Latin America. For the last 7 years, Professor Fontes’ research has explored the evolution of transnational gangs, or maras, to understand how they became Central America’s public enemy #1. His work maps the blurred boundaries between the underworld, the state, law-abiding society, and legacies of civil war that have made the region the most violent non-combat zone in the world. The book based on this research is entitled Mortal Doubt: Transnational Gangs and Social Order in Guatemala City, (University of California Press 2018). Fontes is also engaged in research projects on US immigration politics and on trafficking networks straddling Guatemala’s border with Mexico. His work has been supported by grants from the OSF/SSRC Drugs, Security, and Democracy Program, the International Center for Global Conflict and Cooperation, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.