Course Details

Why study prisons? One answer to this question is statistical: the United States incarcerates more of its population than any other country. There are 2.2 million people in U.S. prisons and jails, with an additional 4.5 million on probation or parole. Those most directly impacted are disproportionately people of color, with increased rates of impact as race intersects with gender, ability, indigeneity, citizenship, and sexuality. But statistics alone do not answer the question. We must figure out why these numbers exist, and how they came into existence. What happened over the last forty years that caused a 500% increase in U.S. incarceration, with a 700% increase for women? How is this recent phase related to longer historical practices of racialized, gendered, and sexual policing of indigenous, black, brown, undocumented, and LGBTQ+ people? And how is the recent boom in prison construction and mass incarceration related to rising student debt, decreased employment opportunities, and growing wealth disparities in this period?

This class will explore the carceral complex of the last forty years by looking beyond prisons into the historical logics of debt and freedom that sustain them. Our readings will situate U.S. prisons at the center of a complex social, political, and economic system that shapes every element of contemporary life. Readings will be drawn from the humanities, social science disciplines, interdisciplinary fields, and various public sectors including mainstream journalism, alternative media, digital platforms, community-based organizations, and currently incarcerated groups.