Carceral Capitalism
Carceral Capitalism by Jackie Wang, published by MIT Press on February 23, 2018, is a thought-provoking collection of essays that delves into the contemporary practices of incarceration. This edition, comprising 360 pages, explores critical issues such as juvenile delinquency, predatory policing, and the political economy of fees and fines. Wang’s work highlights the troubling realities faced by communities affected by systemic oppression and the psychological impact of living under constant surveillance and exploitation.
In these essays, Wang examines the evolution of incarceration techniques since the 1990s, addressing topics like algorithmic policing and the aesthetic challenges of revealing hidden forms of power. The collection includes Wang’s influential critique of liberal anti-racist politics, “Against Innocence,” alongside discussions on the implications of predatory lending and the spatial dynamics of financial exploitation. Through this analysis, readers will gain insight into how new racial capitalism operates through various mechanisms of governance, blurring the lines between incarceration and everyday life.
Official synopsis Publisher
Essays on the contemporary continuum of incarceration: the biopolitics of juvenile delinquency, predatory policing, the political economy of fees and fines, and algorithmic policing.
What we see happening in Ferguson and other cities around the country is not the creation of livable spaces, but the creation of living hells. When people are trapped in a cycle of debt it also can affect their subjectivity and how they temporally inhabit the world by making it difficult for them to imagine and plan for the future. What psychic toll does this have on residents? How does it feel to be routinely dehumanized and exploited by the police?
—from Carceral Capitalism
In this collection of essays in Semiotext(e)’s Intervention series, Jackie Wang examines the contemporary incarceration techniques that have emerged since the 1990s. The essays illustrate various aspects of the carceral continuum, including the biopolitics of juvenile delinquency, predatory policing, the political economy of fees and fines, cybernetic governance, and algorithmic policing. Included in this volume is Wang’s influential critique of liberal anti-racist politics, “Against Innocence,” as well as essays on RoboCop, techno-policing, and the aesthetic problem of making invisible forms of power legible.
Wang shows that the new racial capitalism begins with parasitic governance and predatory lending that extends credit only to dispossess later. Predatory lending has a decidedly spatial character and exists in many forms, including subprime mortgage loans, student loans for sham for-profit colleges, car loans, rent-to-own scams, payday loans, and bail bond loans. Parasitic governance, Wang argues, operates through five primary techniques: financial states of exception, automation, extraction and looting, confinement, and gratuitous violence. While these techniques of governance often involve physical confinement and the state-sanctioned execution of black Americans, new carceral modes have blurred the distinction between the inside and outside of prison. As technologies of control are perfected, carcerality tends to bleed into society.
Author
Publisher
Topics
FAQ
What is “Carceral Capitalism” about?
Who is the author of “Carceral Capitalism”?
When was “Carceral Capitalism” published?
What is the ISBN for “Carceral Capitalism”?
What are the book details (language, pages, edition)?
