Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing

This paper aims to trace the founding elements of the carceral institution in the United States by highlighting the effects of settler culture and slavery on its rise and development. The first section will show how the evolution of the prison system in the US has been highly informed by racializing...

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Main Author: Maria Mercone
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2022-11-01
Series:e-cadernos ces
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/eces/7318
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author Maria Mercone
author_facet Maria Mercone
author_sort Maria Mercone
collection DOAJ
description This paper aims to trace the founding elements of the carceral institution in the United States by highlighting the effects of settler culture and slavery on its rise and development. The first section will show how the evolution of the prison system in the US has been highly informed by racializing rationalities and practices connected to the global history of colonial incarceration. The second section, in contrast, will be dedicated to a close reading of a selected collection of narrative fragments written by African American political prisoners between the 1960s and 1980s, focusing on the concept of neoslavery. The ultimate objective of this paper is to demonstrate that prison has been a site of critical production of knowledge and that incarcerated activists’ contributions played a pivotal role in critiquing the interrelation of colonial incarceration, racism, and political repression.
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publishDate 2022-11-01
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spelling doaj-art-6651108f29b14ee3b1f0f843f12d584a2024-12-09T14:13:15ZengCentro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbrae-cadernos ces1647-07372022-11-013710.4000/eces.7318Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of WritingMaria MerconeThis paper aims to trace the founding elements of the carceral institution in the United States by highlighting the effects of settler culture and slavery on its rise and development. The first section will show how the evolution of the prison system in the US has been highly informed by racializing rationalities and practices connected to the global history of colonial incarceration. The second section, in contrast, will be dedicated to a close reading of a selected collection of narrative fragments written by African American political prisoners between the 1960s and 1980s, focusing on the concept of neoslavery. The ultimate objective of this paper is to demonstrate that prison has been a site of critical production of knowledge and that incarcerated activists’ contributions played a pivotal role in critiquing the interrelation of colonial incarceration, racism, and political repression.https://journals.openedition.org/eces/7318black radicalismcolonial incarcerationneoslaverypolitical prisonersprison writings
spellingShingle Maria Mercone
Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
e-cadernos ces
black radicalism
colonial incarceration
neoslavery
political prisoners
prison writings
title Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
title_full Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
title_fullStr Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
title_full_unstemmed Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
title_short Neoslavery Narratives of African American Political Prisoners: Subverting the Power of Writing
title_sort neoslavery narratives of african american political prisoners subverting the power of writing
topic black radicalism
colonial incarceration
neoslavery
political prisoners
prison writings
url https://journals.openedition.org/eces/7318
work_keys_str_mv AT mariamercone neoslaverynarrativesofafricanamericanpoliticalprisonerssubvertingthepowerofwriting