The Racialization of Crime and Punishment: Criminal Justice, Color-Blind Racism, and the Political Economy of the Prison Industrial Complex

The current explosion in criminalization and incarceration is unprecedented in size, scope, and negative consequences—both direct and collateral—for communities of color. These macro systems exist in relationality to the micro dynamics of living in the midst of police scrutiny, economic marginalizat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills) 2008-01, Vol.51 (5), p.625-644
Main Authors: Brewer, Rose M., Heitzeg, Nancy A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Class conflict
Classism
Conscience
Court decisions
Crime
Criminal justice
Criminal justice system
Criminal law
Criminalization
Critical race theory
Critical theory
Disenfranchisement
Dissent
Imprisonment
Injustice
Intersectionality
Marginality
Police
Political economy
Political prisoners
Politics
Praxis
Prison industrial complex
Prisoners
Punishment
Race
Racialization
Racism
Reinforcement
Resistance
Scrutiny
Social classes
Social theory
Supreme courts
Teaching
U.S.A
Voting rights
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Summary:The current explosion in criminalization and incarceration is unprecedented in size, scope, and negative consequences—both direct and collateral—for communities of color. These macro systems exist in relationality to the micro dynamics of living in the midst of police scrutiny, economic marginalization, and political disenfranchisement. Critical race theory is a guide for pedagogy and praxis in exploring the racist and classist foundations of current micro and macro injustices. Using Supreme Court opinions and the voices of political prisoner/prisoners of conscience as evidence of the dominant text and the dissent, this article explores the following issues: the roots of U.S. law, criminal justice, and mass imprisonment in classism and racism; the political economy of the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex; the intersectionality of injustices rooted in micro and macro systems; and the role of prisoners of conscience/ political prisoners in inspiring resistance to micro and macro injustice.
ISSN:0002-7642
1552-3381
DOI:10.1177/0002764207307745