edited by Shreerekha Pillai
contributions by Autumn Elizabeth, Zarinah Agnew, D Coulombe, Tria Blu Wakpa, Jennifer Musial, Maria F Curtis, Marta Romero-Delgado, Alka Kurian, Cassandra D Little, Shailza Sharma, Shreerekha Pillai, Joanna Eleftheriou, Beth Matusoff Merfish and Francisco Arguelles Paz y Puente
introduction by Shreerekha Pillai
foreword by Demita Frazier
University of Illinois Press, 2023
eISBN: 978-0-252-05455-6 | Cloth: 978-0-252-04518-9 | Paper: 978-0-252-08732-5
Library of Congress Classification HN90.S6
Dewey Decimal Classification 305.50973

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK

One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2023


Carceral liberalism emerges from the confluence of neoliberalism, carcerality, and patriarchy to construct a powerful ruse disguised as freedom. It waves the feminist flag while keeping most women still at the margins. It speaks of a post-race society while one in three Black men remain incarcerated. It sings the praises of capital while the dispossessed remain mired in debt.


Shreerekha Pillai edits essays on carceral liberalism that continue the trajectory of the Combahee River Collective and the many people inspired by its vision of feminist solidarity and radical liberation. Academics, activists, writers, and a formerly incarcerated social worker look at feminist resurgence and resistance within, at the threshold of, and outside state violence; observe and record direct and indirect forms of carcerality sponsored by the state and shaped by state structures, traditions, and actors; and critique carcerality. Acclaimed poets like Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Solmaz Sharif amplify the volume’s themes in works that bookend each section.


Cutting-edge yet historically grounded, Carceral Liberalism examines an American ideological creation that advances imperialism, anti-blackness, capitalism, and patriarchy.


Contributors: Maria F. Curtis, Joanna Eleftheriou, Autumn Elizabeth and Zarinah Agnew and D Coulombe, Jeremy Eugene, Demita Frazier, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Alka Kurian, Cassandra D. Little, Beth Matusoff Merfish, Francisco Argüelles Paz y Puente, Shreerekha Pillai, Marta Romero-Delgado, Ravi Shankar, Solmaz Sharif, Shailza Sharma, Tria Blu Wakpa and Jennifer Musial, Javier Zamora