Duke University · Web viewPHIL 213 Contemporary Philosophy: Police Violence and Mass Incarceration...
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PHIL 213 Contemporary Philosophy: Police Violence and Mass Incarceration Dr. Lisa Guenther Office: 229 Furman Hall [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3-4pm, or by appointment T. A. - Teresa Pecinovsky [email protected] Classes will be held in Furman 209 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12:10-1:00 pm The killing of unarmed black men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner , by police in Missouri and New York, and the grand jury process that judged both homicides to be justifiable, has provoked a powerful social movement affirming that Black Lives Matter . The history of police violence against black people is as long as the history of policing itself; arguably, the first organized police forces in the US were slave patrols in South Carolina. As Beth Richie , Dean Spade , and other scholars have shown, women of color, people with disabilities , and queer, trans and gender-nonconforming people are also exposed in various ways to disproportionate police surveillance, arrest, and incarceration. Not only does the US have high rates of police violence and misconduct , we also have the highest incarceration rate in the world . Contemporary scholars have called this situation of mass incarceration in the US neo-slavery , the New Jim Crow , the Prison Industrial Complex, and the Golden Gulag . In this course, we will engage philosophically with issues raised by police violence and mass incarceration in the US,
Transcript of Duke University · Web viewPHIL 213 Contemporary Philosophy: Police Violence and Mass Incarceration...
PHIL 213 Contemporary Philosophy: Police Violence and Mass Incarceration
Dr. Lisa GuentherOffice: 229 Furman [email protected]
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3-4pm, or by appointment
T. A. - Teresa [email protected]
Classes will be held in Furman 209 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12:10-1:00 pm
The killing of unarmed black men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, by police in Missouri and New York, and the grand jury process that judged both homicides to be justifiable, has provoked a powerful social movement affirming that Black Lives Matter. The history of police violence against black people is as long as the history of policing itself; arguably, the first organized police forces in the US were slave patrols in South Carolina. As Beth Richie, Dean Spade, and other scholars have shown, women of color, people with disabilities, and queer, trans and gender-nonconforming people are also exposed in various ways to disproportionate police surveillance, arrest, and incarceration. Not only does the US have high rates of police violence and misconduct, we also have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Contemporary scholars have called this situation of mass incarceration in the US neo-slavery, the New Jim Crow, the Prison Industrial Complex, and the Golden Gulag.
In this course, we will engage philosophically with issues raised by police violence and mass incarceration in the US, asking both what philosophers can bring to the conversation and also what we can learn from the critical analysis and collective action of thinkers and activists beyond the academic discipline of philosophy. Our challenge is not only to read the work of contemporary philosophers, and not only to respond to current events, but to re-think what the practice of philosophy could become if philosophers sought not only to interpret the world, but also to change it.
Required Texts
Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: The New Press, 2012)
Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces(New York: Public Affairs Books, 2014)
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Vintage Books, 1979)
All other texts are online (URL provided below) or will be posted on OAK.
Assignments
Given the importance of social media for the documentation, analysis, and activist organizing in response to the killing of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, the main assignments in this course are blog posts. The other assignments are designed to help you write a blog post that effectively brings together philosophical analysis, awareness of current issues, and effective communication to a broad readership.
Rhetorical and Critical Analysis of a Published Blog Post or Editorial1000 words Worth 15% of final grade Due Jan. 28
Choose a published blog post or newspaper editorial that you find powerful. This can be a text that we studied in class or something you found on your own. Briefly explain why you chose this article, then analyze the writing style, argumentative structure, and theoretical framework of the article. How does the author convey their ideas, and what are some lessons you can take from their work for your own blog post? (This is what I’m calling a rhetorical analysis of the text; it focuses on form, style, and structure rather than content.) In the final page or two, respond critically to the ideas and arguments in the text from your own point of view. (This is what I’m calling a critical analysis; it engages with the content, meaning, and/or further implications of the text. A critical analysis need not argue against the claims made in the text; in other words, critical does not simply mean “negative.” Rather, it involves dialogue, evaluation, elaboration, and other forms of substantive engagement.)
Explication of a Theoretical Text1000 words Worth 15% of final gradeDue April 6
An explication is a “close reading” or detailed analysis of a text. Choose one of the theoretical texts we have studied in class (for example, work by Richie, Stanley, Gossett, Ben-Mishe, Martintot and Sexton, Wilderson, May, Rancière, or Foucault). Explain the basic concepts and/or argument of the text in your own words and critically analyze its relevance for addressing issues of police violence and/or mass incarceration.
Report on a Meeting, Lecture, or Event Related to Police Violence and/or Mass Incarceration500 words Worth 10% of final grade Due April 20 at the latest, but can be handed in anytime
Attend a meeting, lecture, protest, or other event related to police violence and/or mass incarceration, and write a brief report on what happened and how it affected you. For example: Did you learn something new? What were the power dynamics like? Did the event raise or resolve any issues we have discussed in class? Did you gain a new perspective on the readings? etc.
Two Blog Posts 1000 words eachEach worth 20% of final grade (for a total of 40%)Due February 23 and April 20
Choose an issue, event, or news item and write a blog post that addresses this concern, while drawing on at least one of the texts we have studied in class. Ideally, your blog post should bring a philosophical perspective to bear on a discussion of public concern.
You may integrate anything you have written in class (for example, on the online forum or in any of your other assignments) into your blog posts, as long as 50% of the blog post is new material. You may also quote something that another student has written for the online forum, as long as you receive permission.
Please post your blog on our online forum - http://phil213vandy.blogspot.com/ - and also hand in a hard copy for one-on-one feedback. I will post the best blog posts on the website for Tennessee Students and Educators for Social Justice (with the author’s permission).
Regular Participation in Online Forum and Virtual ClassesAt least 5 posts, and 5 comments on other students’ posts, over the semester10% of final grade
I have set up a group blog for the class here: http://phil213vandy.blogspot.com/ Feel free to post your reflections on readings or current events on this blog, as well as links to relevant news articles, videos, etc. If you post a link, please add a sentence or two, or a quote from the text, to give people a sense of what it’s about.
We will also have a number of “virtual classes” throughout the year. For these classes, you will be asked to read a text or watch a video, post your reflections on the course blog (a paragraph or so), and comment on someone else’s post. I will be out of town on these days, but I will stay in touch through the blog.
A number of these virtual classes involve readings that members of other groups will also be reading in preparation for the Re-Visioning Justice Conference at Vanderbilt on April 17-19. (These are the readings from Michelle Alexander, Bryan Stevenson, and Howard Zehr – the three keynote speakers for the conference.) If you agree, I will facilitate an online discussion of these readings between our class and other readers (including prisoners on death row in REACH Coalition and members of the Cal Turner Program working group on mass incarceration.)
At this point, the blog is open to the public, but I will make it private after the add/drop date (unless we decide collectively to keep it public).
Attendance and Participation in Class Discussion10% of final grade
Your participation grade will be based on attendance and contributions to class discussion.
Attendance will be kept every class. You are granted two unexcused absences over the semester, with deductions for poor attendance beyond that. If you have a legitimate reason for missing class, please notify me by email as soon as possible.
Classroom Policies
Cell phone and Laptop Policy
The use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices is not allowed in class. If you use your cell phone to send or check messages in class, you will lose your attendance and participations points for that day.
Laptops are discouraged, but if you have a good reason for using one during class, please talk to me. If you have an internet window open during class, you will lose your attendance and participations points for that day.
The use of electronic devices in class is distracting, both for the user and for the rest of the class. Even the presence of such devices is distracting, given our understandable temptation to use them. It affects the whole atmosphere of the class when someone is seen to be texting, surfing the internet, checking email, and so forth – even if they feel like they are still listening and participating.
Accommodations for Disability
If you would like to request accommodation for a disability, please contact me and/or apply for services through Vanderbilt’s Disability Services Program: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ead/ds_students.html.
Plagiarism and the Honor Code
Plagiarism includes more than just the obvious – copying or purchasing entire assignments – and should be avoided at all costs. Any time you adopt an idea, phrase or passage from another source, and especially when you cut and paste information from the internet, you must be careful to acknowledge your source properly.
I take plagiarism very seriously, and I will enforce Vanderbilt’s Honor Code to the full extent. For an explanation of the code, please see http://www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/Honor_System.htm.
For resources on how to cite resources properly and avoid unintentional plagiarism, please see: http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/research/Citing.shtml.
I strongly encourage you to make use of the resources at The Writing Studio: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/writing/. You can make an appointment for one-on-one consultation about writing skills in general, or get specific feedback on a draft of the paper you’re currently writing.
Schedule of Readings
This schedule is open to revision; please check OAK for updates. I will not make any changes to the syllabus before consulting with you in class or by email.
Events in italics are not part of the official syllabus, but they are closely related to the issues discussed in class. These events would be good occasions for your report on an event/lecture/meeting on police violence or mass incarceration.
Readings listed under “SEE ALSO” are recommended but not required. You may find these resources handy for researching your own blog post.
Monday, Jan. 5 Virtual Class
I will be out of town from Jan. 4-7 for the launch of a project on Mass Incarceration and Public Memory, for which Vanderbilt is a university partner. Read more about the project here.
In the meantime, I would like to begin building a shared vocabulary of basic concepts for a philosophical engagement with issues raised by police violence and mass incarceration. I have added a few basic concepts to our course blog get the ball rolling. Please read these posts and add your own thoughts about the meaning of these concepts.
Everyone is welcome to add more basic concepts to this list at any point in the semester. (Please use the label “basic concepts” so we can keep track of the list.) By the end of the semester, we should have a collective glossary of terms, some of which might have multiple or even divergent meanings. Don’t be afraid to disagree with one another, or to change your views over time, but be prepared to support your definitions with reasons and examples.
Assignment for Wednesday: Add one comment to the course blog on the basic concepts I have posted, or start your own “basic concepts” thread.
Wednesday, Jan. 7 Virtual Class
“Ferguson Speaks: A Communiqué from Ferguson” - http://vimeo.com/111938224
“Ferguson Action: Our Vision for a New America” http://cdn.fergusonaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/demands.pdf
Liberate Nashville - “Why We Shut It Down and What We Want” http://liberatenashville.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/why-we-shut-it-down-and-what-we-want/
Assignment for Friday: Post one or more philosophical questions on the course blog in response to these readings and video. Please label your post: “philosophical questions.” See the “basic concept” listing for “philosophical questions” for some direction on how to formulate a philosophical question, in distinction from an empirical question.
Friday, Jan. 9 First in-class meeting
We will introduce ourselves, create some ground rules for discussion, and begin a discussion of basic concepts and philosophical questions posted on the course blog.
George Yancy and Joy James - “Black Lives: Between Grief and Action” http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/black-lives-between-grief-and-action/?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone
Monday, Jan. 12 Mike Brown, Ferguson, #BlackLivesMatter
Robin D. G. Kelley - “Why We Won’t Wait” http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/25/75039/
Kelley - Freedom Dreams, “When History Sleeps” (1-12)
SEE ALSO:
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Why We Can’t Wait
Wednesday, Jan. 14
Mariame Kaba - “Whether Darren Wilson Is Indicted or Not, the Entire System Is Guilty” http://inthesetimes.com/article/17370/darren_wilson_indicted_guilty
(Kaba will be offering a workshop on transformative justice at the Re-Visioning Justice conference here at Vanderbilt on April 17-19.)
Imagine Alternatives – “Feeling for the Edge of your Imagination: finding ways not to call the police” http://imaginealternatives.tumblr.com/
José Martín – “Policing is a Dirty Job, But Nobody's Gotta Do It: 6 Ideas for a Cop-Free World” http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/policing-is-a-dirty-job-but-nobodys-gotta-do-it-6-ideas-for-a-cop-free-world-20141216
SEE ALSO:
Tamara K. Nopper and Mariame Kaba - “Itemizing Atrocity” https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/itemizing-atrocity/
Project NIA - http://www.project-nia.org/
Mariame Kaba’s blog, Prison Culture: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/ - for example this blog on “Thinking Through the End of Police” - http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2014/12/29/thinking-through-the-end-of-police/
Kaba’s website - http://mariamekaba.com/
Chain Reaction - http://alternativestopolicing.com/ Watch the video “What is Chain Reaction?” on the homepage and read the “Background” sections of the How-To page: http://alternativestopolicing.com/how-to/
Film: “The Interrupters” - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/interrupters/
Friday, Jan. 16
Martin Luther King, Jr. – “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Dani McClain – “The Civil Rights Movement Came Out of a Moment Like This One” http://www.thenation.com/blog/191969/civil-rights-movement-came-out-moment-one
SEE ALSO:
Robert “Biko” – “How to Turn the Ferguson Protests into a New Civil Rights Movement” http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/12/ferguson-protests-new-civil-rights-movement
Gene Denby - “The Birth of a New Civil Rights Movement” - http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/12/ferguson-new-civil-rights-movement-113906.html#.VKa9vSfTpwO
Monday, Jan. 19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – No Class
A #BlackLivesMatter action is being planned for this day. I will post more info about this as soon as possible. Attendance is optional, but this would be a good event to report on for your event/meeting/lecture report assignment.
Wednesday, Jan. 21 Eric Garner, “I Can’t Breathe,” #BlackAndBreathing
Salar Mohandesi - “Who Killed Eric Garner?” https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/12/who-killed-eric-garner/
Donna Auston - “Recalled to Life: On the Meaning and Power of a Die-In” http://donnaauston.com/reca lled-to-life/
Oakland Police Department SHUTDOWN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut8OCCMMNWk#t=32
Thursday, Jan 22, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Furman Hall 114
The Darkest Hour: Shedding Light on the Impact of Isolation and Death Row in Texas Prisons
Documentary Film and Book Discussion with Dr. Betty Gilmore Complimentary Pizza! RSVP: [email protected] information at http://tnsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/the-darkest-hour-isolation-and-death-row-in-texas-prisons/
Friday, Jan. 23 Gender-Based Carceral Violence and Collective Resistance
Beth Richie – Arrested Justice (Introduction, pp 1-22)
Alicia Garza – “A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement”: http://thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/
SEE ALSO
Jihan Hafiz – “How women are leading the #BlackLivesMatter movement” http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/12/22/watch-how-women-areleadingtheblacklivesmattermovement.html
Katherine Cross - “The Price of Our Blood: Why Ferguson is a Reproductive Justice Issue” http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/08/26/price-blood-ferguson-reproductive-justice-issue/
“Black Women Matter” Zine http://issuu.com/undergroundsketchbook/docs/blackwomenmatteronline
Mariam Kaba – “‘Mistaken Identity,’ The Violent Un-Gendering of Black Women, and the NYPD”http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2014/08/04/mistaken-identity-the-violent-un-gendering-of-black-women-and-the-nypd/
Monday, Jan. 26
Eric Stanley and Nat Smith (eds.): Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex (Intro by Eric Stanley (1-11) and Che Gossett’s interview with Bo Brown, Reina Gossett, and Dylan Rodriguez, “Abolitionist Imaginings” (323-42))
SEE ALSO:
Against Equality: Prisons Will Not Protect You http://rhizombie.tumblr.com/post/44148982044/download-a-pdf-of-against-equalitys-prisons-will
Hearts on a Wire Collective: “This is a Prison, Glitter is Not Allowed” http://www.galaei.org/documents/thisisaprison.pdf
Ed Mead and the George Jackson Brigade: Men Against Sexism https://earfulofqueer.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/ed-mead-and-men-against-sexism/
Sylvia Rivera Law Project: http://srlp.org/
Black and Pink: http://www.blackandpink.org/
Cee Cee McDonald http://supportcece.wordpress.com/
Wednesday, Jan. 28 Policing and Incarcerating Disability
Harold Braswell – “Why do police keep seeing a person’s disability as a provocation?” http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/25/people-with-mental-disabilities-get-the-worst-and-least-recognized-treatment-from-police/
Toshio Meronek – “The Invisible Punishment of Prisoners With Disabilities” http://www.thenation.com/article/175404/invisible-punishment-prisoners-disabilities
Liat Ben-Moshe – “Alternatives to (Disability) Incarceration”
SEE ALSO:
“Mass Imprisonment and Public Health” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/opinion/mass-imprisonment-and-public-health.html?_r=0
Vera Institute – “On Life Support: Public Health in the Age of Mass Incarceration” http://www.vera.org/pubs/public-health-mass-incarceration
Rhetorical and Critical Analysis of Blog Post Due
Friday, Jan. 30 A Brief History of Policing: From Slave Patrols to Militarized Police
Radley Balko – Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces (1-10)
John Locke – Second Treatise of Civil Government, Chapter V, “Of Property” (esp. s. 27) http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s3.html
Cheryl Harris, “Whiteness as Property” (276-87)
Friday, Jan. 30, 3:10 – 5pm Roundtable on Philosophy and Mass Incarceration
A Discussion of Philosophy Imprisoned and Death and Other Penalties: Philosophy in a Time of Mass Incarceration, with co-editors Sarah Tyson, Joshua Hall, Geoff Adelsberg, Scott Zeman, and Lisa Guenther.
Monday, Feb. 2
Radley Balko – Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces (11-42)
Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 - http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/history/slaveact1793.htm
Robert Gooding-Williams – “Fugitive Slave Mentality” http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/fugitive-slave-mentality/
SEE ALSO Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 - http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/fugitive.asp
More historical context for both Fugitive Slave Laws - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html
Wednesday, Feb. 4
Radley Balko – Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces (43-80)
Friday, Feb. 6 Virtual class
Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow (Chapter 5)
Assignment: Short blog post (one paragraph) and one comment on someone else’s post
Monday, Feb. 9
Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow (Introduction and Chapter 1)
I know it’s strange to assign Chapter 5 before Chapter 1! But I feel like Chapter 5 sets out the theoretical argument of the book most clearly. Ideally, I’d like to assign the whole book, but I think these chapters will give us a sense of how mass incarceration, the militarization of police forces, and “colorblind” racism intersect. We can revise the reading schedule if necessary, depending on student interest.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow (Chapter 2)
SEE ALSO:
Radley Balko – “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America” (pp 2-43) - http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/balko_whitepaper_2006.pdf
Shane Bauer – “The Making of the Warrior Cop” http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/swat-warrior-cops-police-militarization-urban-shield
ACLU report on SWAT Teams - https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/jus14-warcomeshome-report-web-rel1.pdf
Friday, Feb. 13 Black Radical Political Theory and Practice
Greg Thomas – “Why Some People Like the New Jim Crow So Much” http://imixwhatilike.org/2012/04/26/whysomelikethenewjimcrowsomuch/
Assata Shakur – “An Open Letter to the Media: I am a 20th Century Slave” http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/30/an-open-letter-to-the-media/
SEE ALSO:
“Black Power Mixtape” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_qnnqyxQk (esp Angela Davis’ comments on violence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BIZy0HScM
Black Panther Party Ten Point Program (1966) https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1966/10/15.htm
George Jackson – Soledad Brother
Angela Davis: An Autobiography
Assata: A Memoir and Assata Shakur’s website - http://www.assatashakur.org/
Joseph Olsel – “Black Out: Alexander’s Operational Whitewash” http://www.radicalcritique.org/2012/03/black-out-michelle-alexanders.html
James Forman – “Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow”
http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Faculty/Forman_RacialCritiques.pdf
Monday, Feb. 16
Steve Martintot and Jared Sexton – “The Avant-Garde of White Supremacy”
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Frank Wilderson – “The Prison Slave as Hegemony’s (Silent) Scandal”
Friday, Feb. 20 Virtual Class
Please watch this documentary film on your own and post a comment on the course blog with the film’s title as a label: “The Bombing of Osage Avenue”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVbOlY7svfE
SEE ALSO this more recent documentary about the same event, “Let the Fire Burn” - http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/let-fire-burn-fallout-29-years
Monday, Feb. 23 Jacques Rancière: From Policing to Politics
Todd May – The Political Thought of Jacques Rancière (Chapter 2, “Active Equality: Democratic Politics,” pp 38-59)
First Blog Post Due
Wednesday, Feb. 25
Todd May – The Political Thought of Jacques Rancière (Chapter 2, “Active Equality: Democratic Politics,” pp 59-75)
Thursday, Feb. 26
Public Lecture by Angela Davis at Fisk University – Exact time and location TBA
Friday, Feb. 27 Virtual Class
Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy (Chapters 14 and 16)
Assignment: Short blog post (one paragraph) and one comment on someone else’s post
SEE ALSO
Bryan Stevenson’s TED talk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice” - http://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice?language=en
His appearance on The Daily Show - http://thedailyshow.cc.com/extended-interviews/dmnaja/bryan-stevenson-extended-interview
And on the Colbert Report - http://www.eji.org/colbert
March 2, 4, 6 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASSES
Monday, March 9
Jacques Rancière – “Ten Theses on Politics” http://www.egs.edu/faculty/jacques-ranciere/articles/ten-thesis-on-politics/
Wednesday, March 11 Foucault: From Torture to Prisons and Policing
Foucault - Discipline and Punish (“The body of the condemned,” pp 3-31)
Friday, March 13
Foucault - Discipline and Punish (“Panopticism,” pp 195-228)
Monday, March 16
Charles Baxter, Wayne Brown, Tony Chatman-Bey, H.B. Johnson, Jr., Mark Medley, Donald Thompson, Selvyn Tillett, and John Woodland Jr. (with Drew Leder): “Live From the Panopticon: Architecture and Power Revisited”
Wednesday, March 18
Foucault - Discipline and Punish (“Illegalities and Delinquency,” pp 257-78)
Friday, March 20
Foucault - Discipline and Punish (“Illegalities and Delinquency,” pp 278-292)
Huey Newton: “Prison, Where is Thy Victory?”
Monday, March 23
Foucault and the Groupe d’information sur les prisons (GIP): http://www.critical-theory.com/43-years-ago-today-foucaults-statement-on-french-prisons/
Alberto Toscano – “The Intolerable-Inquiry: The Documents of the Groupe d’information sur les prisons” https://viewpointmag.com/2013/09/25/the-intolerable-inquiry-the-documents-of-the-groupe-dinformation-sur-les-prisons/
SEE ALSO – Leopold Lambert – “Prison Information Group by Michel Foucault, Jean-Marie Domenach & Pierre Vidal-Naquet http://thefunambulist.net/2011/05/19/history-prison-information-group-by-michel-foucault-jean-marie-domenach-pierre-vidal-naquet/
Wednesday, March 25
Angela Davis – “Racialized Punishment and Prison Abolition” https://doubleoperative.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/racialized-punishment-and-prison-abolition.pdf
Friday, March 27 Foucault: Biopower and State Racism
Ladelle McWhorter – Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America (pp 32-62)
Michel Foucault – Abnormal (pp 316-18 on “racism against the abnormal”)
Monday, March 30
Michel Foucault – “Society Must Be Defended!” (Chapter 11, pp 239-63)
SEE ALSO:
Foucault – The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, “Right of Death and Power Over Life” (esp. 135-50)
Foucault – Security, Territory, Population
Wednesday, April 1
Steven Thrasher – “Two NYPD cops get killed and 'wartime' police blame the protesters. Have we learned nothing?” http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/21/two-nypd-cops-killed-wartime-police-protesters
Achille Mbembe: “Necropolitics” http://racismandnationalconsciousnessresources.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/achille-mbembe-necropolitics.pdf
Friday, April 3 Virtual Class
Howard Zehr – Changing Lenses (Chapter 10)
Assignment: Short blog post (one paragraph) and one comment on someone else’s post
Monday, April 6
Brady Heiner – “Sedimentations of Slavery: The Unfinished Project of American Abolition” (These are the uncorrected page proofs for a chapter that is forthcoming in Death and Other Penalties: Philosophy in a Time of Mass Incarceration, co-edited by Geoff Adelsberg, Lisa Guenther, and Scott Zeman. Please do not circulate without permission!)
SEE ALSO:
Fred Moten and Stefano Harney – “The University and the Undercommons” http://cet.usc.edu/resources/events/docs/The_University_and_the_Undercommons.pdf)
Explication of Theoretical Text Due
Wednesday, April 8 Transformative Justice and Prison Abolition
Jane Hereth, Mariame Kaba, Erica R. Meiners, and Lewis Wallace – “Restorative Justice Is Not Enough: School-Based Interventions in the Carceral State”
Friday, April 10
Angela Davis – Are Prisons Obsolete? (Ch 1, 6)
Monday, April 13
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence and Critical Resistance – “The Critical Resistance INCITE! Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex” http://www.incite-national.org/sites/default/files/incite_files/resource_docs/5848_incite-cr-statement.pdf
Alexis Gumbs – “Freedom Seeds: Growing Abolition in Durham, North Carolina”
Vikki Law – “Resisting Gender Violence Without Cops or Prisons” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlozk7G-JYo
Wednesday, April 15
CARA: “Taking Risks: Implementing Grassroots Community Accountability”
SEE ALSO
Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo: “In Our Hands: Community Accountability as Pedagogical Strategy”
Generation Five: “Towards Transformative Justice”: http://www.generationfive.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/G5_Toward_Transformative_Justice-Document.pdf
Manifesto for Abolition: A Journal of Insurgent Politics: http://abolitionjournal.org/
Sarah Tyson – “Experiments in Responsibility: Pocket Parks, Radical Anti-Violence Work, and the Social Ontology of Safety” (a philosophical engagement with the work of Generation Five) https://www.academia.edu/7961846/Experiments_in_Responsibility_Pocket_Parks_Radical_Anti-Violence_Work_and_the_Social_Ontology_of_Safety
April 16-19 Re-Visioning Justice Conference, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Main events:
Thursday, April 16, 7:30-9:30pm - Tenx9 Storytelling Event: “I was in prison….”—Vanderbilt Divinity School #124
Friday, April 17, 6:30-8pm – Keynote Address by Bryan Stevenson - Benton Chapel, Vanderbilt University
Saturday, April 18, 9-10:30am – Keynote Address by Howard Zehr, Restorative Justice: A Third Way? - Benton Chapel, Vanderbilt University
Saturday, April 18, 7-8:30pm - Keynote Address by Michelle Alexander - Christ Church Cathedral (900 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203)
Wednesday, April 20 Final Discussion: Where Do We Go From Here?
Second Blog post due
Report on Meeting/Event/Lecture due (if not already handed in)
