New Perspectives on Criminal (In)Justice and Incarceration

Abstract

The Punitive Turn: New Approaches to Race and Incarceration, edited by Deborah McDowell, Claudrena Harold, and Juan Battle, utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to examine the complex historical, socioeconomic, and political roots of the American carceral state; the racial and gender dynamics embedded within the criminal justice and penal systems; and the collateral damage and exorbitant costs associated with mass incarceration. Emerging from a two-day symposium at the University of Virginia in 2009, this edited volume, which is divided into four sections, features essays that collectively focus on the varying contours of imprisonment and what the contributors view as the unraveling of American democracy. Moreover, The Punitive Turn, in an effort to explore mass incarceration and the disproportionate numbers of African Americans trapped in the criminal justice system, probes the historical dimensions of the 21st century carceral state. The contributors provide provocative and comprehensive analyses of the intersections between race and gender and imprisonment, shedding light on the often hidden world and experiences of the over two million men and women who are currently living behind bars. Presenting fresh perspectives and instructive discourses on mass imprisonment, the chapters add to the existing subfields of critical race theory, legal and sociological studies, and African American and women’s histories. Chronicling the complex historical roots of modern-day incarceration, part one, “Punishment in Historical Perspective,” delineates the origins of the modernday carceral state by focusing on African Americans’ incarceration from the end