Political Theory and Philosophy in a Time of Mass Incarceration: Introduction to Part I (co-authored with Andrew Dilts) (original) (raw)

2014, Radical Philosophy Review

I t has become customary to begin conversations about the state of punishment in the United States with a rehearsal of shocking statistics, in the unstated hope that the sheer weight of data will force a policy change. And at this point, it would hopefully be unnecessary to remind readers that the United States has the highest recorded incarceration rate in the world. 1 The statistics, nevertheless, remain shocking-if not surprising. As scholars have recognized for more than a decade, the U.S. penal system is one of "mass incarceration," not simply because of its high rate of imprisonment, but also because of the concentration of its effects on communities of color. 2 Recent reports indicate that rates of imprisonment for Black and Latina/o men and women are twice to over six times as high as those of whites. 3 Indigenous people are also incarcerated in dramatically disproportionate numbers, and women of color are the fastest growing group of people who find themselves behind bars. 4 Moreover, these statistics do not capture the 1.