Zaith Lopez

Zaith Lopez is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology. As a sociocultural and medical anthropologist, he examines the socialization of masculinities and therapeutics in Mexico, particularly in the transnational border city of Tijuana. Influenced by 12-step philosophy, drug addicts in Mexico have created their own drug recovery institutions to recover from drug addiction in the absence of public health, state interventions. In the dissertation, Lopez explores how therapeutic processes are not solely about self-transformation or the curtailment of drug addiction but a social and gendered process wherein participants resocialize, interrogate, and negotiate what healing and ways of being a man are. His areas of inquiry contribute to broader academic discussions in addiction studies, gender studies, and the cultural and institutional dimensions of daily life in Mexico. He earned his B.A. in anthropology from UCLA after transferring from San Diego City College.