Race, Crime, and Justice in the City

In this course, students examine the rise of the penal state, tracing its roots from the birth of the prison to the ascendance of mass imprisonment. The course is organized around five lines of inquiry--(1) How is the power to punish derived? (2) How has the role of punishment in society been conceived? (3) What do the practices of punishment produce? (4) What do they tell us about ourselves? (5) What are the alternatives?

Taking up these questions, students will outline the major theories of punishment advanced by classical political philosophers and penologists, and trace the trajectory of our modern impulse to punish. We will interrogate the political economy, culture, and consequences of punishment through readings on the carceral state and conclude by raising new questions about the role and force of mass imprisonment while looking toward alternatives.