Challenging the Prison-Industrial Complex

by Hartnett, Stephen John

• ISBN13: 9780252077708
• ISBN10: 0252077709
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-12-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

Boldly and eloquently contributing to the argument against the prison system in the United States, these provocative essays offer an ideological and practical framework for empowering prisoners instead of incarcerating them. Experts and activists who have worked within and against the prison system join forces here to call attention to the debilitating effects of a punishment-driven society and offer clear-eyed alternatives, emphasizing working directly with prisoners and their communities. The volume offers rhetorical and political analyses of police culture, the so-called drug war, media coverage of crime stories, and the public school- to-prison pipeline. The collection also includes case studies of successful prison arts and education programs in Michigan, California, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania that provide creative and intellectual resources typically denied to citizens living behind bars. Writings and artwork created by prisoners in such programs richly enhance the volume. Contributors are Buzz Alexander, Rose Braz, Travis L. Dixon, Garrett Albert Duncan, Stephen John Hartnett, Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, Daniel Mark Larson, Erica R. Meiners, Janie Paul, Lori Pompa, Jonathan Shailor, Robin Sohnen, and Myesha Williams. Stephen John Hartnett is an associate professor and chair of communication at the University of Colorado Denver. He is the author ofIncarceration Nation: Investigative Prison Poems of Hope and TerrorandExecuting Democracy, Volume One: Capital Punishment and the Making of America, 16831807.

Author Biography

Stephen John Hartnett is an associate professor and chair of communication at the University of Colorado Denver. He is the author of Incarceration Nation: Investigative Prison Poems of Hope and Terror and Executing Democracy, Volume One: Capital Punishment and the Making of America, 1683-1807.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: Empowerment or Incarceration? Reclaiming Hope and Justice from a Punishing Democracy	p. 1
Diagnosing the Crisis
Building an Abolition Democracy; or, The Fight against Public Fear, Private Benefits, and Prison Expansion	p. 15
Poem "Another Day in the Champaign County Jail"	p. 41
Militarizing the Police: Officer Jon Burge, Torture, and War in the "Urban Jungle"	p. 43
Poem "Gotta Be Careful Where Ya Plant Ya Feet"	p. 72
Killing Democracy; or, How the Drug War Drives the Prison-Industrial Complex	p. 73
Poem "Another Day"	p. 105
Teaching You to Love Fear: Television News and Racial Stereotypes in a Punishing Democracy	p. 106
Poem "In Search of Salvation"	p. 124
Diagnosing the Schools-to-Prisons Pipeline: Maximum Security, Minimum Learning	p. 126
Practical Solutions, Visionary Alternatives
"A Piece of the Reply": The Prison Creative Arts Project and Practicing Resistance	p. 149
Poem "The Poet's Corner"	p. 179
Each One Reach One: Playwriting and Community Activism as Redemption and Prevention	p. 181
Poem "Devil Talks"	p. 201
Fostering Cultures of Achievement in Urban Schools: How to Work toward the Abolition of the Schools-to-Prisons Pipeline	p. 203
Poem "January 3, 2009"	p. 228
Humanizing Education behind Bars: Shakespeare and the Theater of Empowerment	p. 229
Poem "Anger"	p. 252
Breaking Down the Walls: Inside-Out Learning and the Pedagogy of Transformation	p. 253
Appendix: Prisoner Art and the Work of Community Building	p. 273
Contributors	p. 275
Index	p. 281
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