í Assignments

In Gilmore’s article, she writes about an existent crisis and surplus regarding prison population and the reconstruction of the state. The crisis, being of social matter, is the actuality of imprisonment, who is being imprisoned, and historical content relating to potential reasons correlating with their imprisonment. Prison, masking as a solution for social crises among a population, has caused and continues to cause a new state, a state that she refers to as a “prison industrial complex,” (p. 178). This solution, un-coincidentally, and simultaneously rids problems associated with minorities, domestic enemies, minorities, and anyone causing civil disorder, making the state feel out of control.

“Objectively, crises are neither bad nor good, but crises do indicate inevitable change, the outcome of which is determined through struggle. Struggle, like crisis, is a politically neutral word: in this scenario, everyone struggles because they have no alternative,” (p. 178). The significance within this text, relating to prison population, is this idea that struggle is inevitable due to inexistence of an alternative. This idea, however, seems inaccurate, considering that historical events that have contributed to many particular people’s struggles, and some people’s advantages. For example, after the Great Depression, there was a heavy diminishing of work for a lot of employees, and yet, the hierarchy of the structured society still held up. This means, people in power and wealth, considerably higher classes, remained in superior classes, while the lower classes, continued to struggle within that status. Another example, emphasizing on the class issue in a hierarchy, African Americans and Latinos, who, still today, make up the majority of lower class statuses, make up the majority percentage and surplus of people in prison.

Now, without ignoring the racial factors, referring to Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” it is stated that there are more African Americans recorded in prison in the U.S, than there have been slaves. There’s obvious controversy that this is a race issue, and it very well might be, but it goes deeper than that when the actual structure of a society is coercing Social Darwinism. The need for survival, especially considering the economic instability that ultimately limits the access and opportunity for some to educate themselves, progress, and better themselves, contributes to illegal ways of earning compensation. To assume that everyone struggles because there are no alternatives, neutrally, is an understatement.

 
Prison, which is a huge contributor to Capitalist economies, is a way to continue a flow of currency when other markets and contributors fall or downsize. “Alternatively, all prisoners might well be required to work in the public sector, both to pay their own costs and to make profit for the state, as was the case in prisons of the US South starting at the turn of the twentieth century,” (p. 186). Referring to publicly owned prisons and reconstructions, prisoners forced to work can be one solution to society’s tax struggle. This surplus labor tax, as Gilmore calls it, or new way of industrialization to preserve the economy, can be well connected to former slavery, forcing predominantly colored, caged people to work for little to nothing. The very foundation of prisons depict a strong aligning with racism and exploitation – and is clearly being used as an alternative plan for restricting and improving the state’s political and economic standing, as opposed to being concerned of the welfare of citizens due to actual crime and danger.

The surplus that Gilmore is referring to are the surplus of people mostly poor people of color that were left unemployed due to economic recession, surplus of land that was left unused due agribusiness and the industrialization of farming and the increased investment in high tech military industries resulted in large groups of people being unemployed. For those in government they understood that warfare spending produced wealth. This in turn created a social crisis where people  were fighting for social welfare rights because they were deliberately excluded which created various forms of activism and in turn created a moral panic which included civil disorder, political alliances among organizations. In order to cure society of the social crises ( people of color out of control, idle youth in the streets, and women and children without husbands and fathers) the state began to incarcerate large numbers of African American and Latinos. The prison system is the answer to the social crisis and deviant behavior.

Gilmore also explains that structural changes to employment opportunities  could also be another reason for prison expansion in California. These structural changes forced large groups of people to find other ways to support themselves and generate income. Many people resorted to property crimes or drug dealing and those convicted of such crimes made up a large number of the prison population because even laws changes which affected how a person would be charged and how long their sentence would be. People would not have resorted to crime had they not been forced out of work and if the social programs and resources were still available to them.

Media, policies and government were also influential in creating the social or moral crisis. The use of such terms as “law and order” and safety and crime  were used to justify the building of so many prisons in a short  period. Society was more concerned with crime rates and drugs than they were about unemployment and inflation. Society continued to worry about crime and safety even though crime rates were down.

The crisis was not necessarily economic the crisis seemed to be people especially those of color wanted fair treatment and employment. The surplus consisted of finance capital, land, labor (people) and sate capacity.

Crisis is usually what happens when something in society, ( people, land, buildings) becomes surplus or more than what was expected or needed and “society” decides that it should do something about it. In California the prison system is the answer to the crises: Land was made a surplus because of agribusiness (industrial farming), finance capital was made surplus by California’s budget and tax laws and the people in the urban areas were made surplus by uneven development, structural changes to employment opportunities and racism.

In this reading immediately Gilmore points out how crime was ran and influenced by minorities reeking havoc on society, which I felt was somewhat true but really unfair to say. Gilmore expresses that civil disorder has created a moral panic. The U.S has time and time again proven to be in a crisis state. Her perception of ” crisis” is that it is never bad or good but that its purpose if to influence change due to a struggle. She observes that people only struggle because they have to. Gilmore goes on to talk about the depression which was a depression which was a struggle, crisis forced people to want something better for themselves and to want something different for their lives. This is when many people started to move the suburbs out of the city. Gilmore also talks about how prisoners sought out reform not only for better living conditions but the way the sentencing is which was very interesting to be because they were getting sentenced to 1 year to life which by todays standards is crazy. instead of the state changing or improving the conditions of prisons they just wanted to create more prisons, mega prisons. instead of using the new prisons to house some of the population who were in over crowded prisons they put all new offenders into these prisons. The voters who voted for the prison project were persuaded that Crime was the countries problem and the prison was the answer. Prison was supposed to “fix” the nations crisis. The people who voted for the prison project were the same people who received major tax breaks and had secure housing so they could really careless about who was effected by a prison being built in their state. This is not unlike the poitical scene today in which people in power vote for things that will greatly  negatively effect many people but will positively effect the voter exclusively. Prison is big business, both for the land owners and for the state in general which is what the voters used as a defense. At first in the cities where the prisons were expected to be built the idea was rejected but after they were persuaded that prisons would be a recession proof endeavor and that it would improve local development they jumped onboard with the idea this is just another way that prison was seen a the “fix it ” solution.

Due Sunday, March 26th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In her work, Ruth Wilson Gilmore argues that the expanding prison population should be connected to a restructuring of the state. In your own words, explain the “crisis” and “surplus” that Gilmore joins to the prison population in the U.S. (of the more than 2 million people living in prisons in 1999).

Toni Mitchell

Assign 6

In Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici makes a compelling argument stating that capitalism indeed on a constant supply of women’s unwaged labor, not to mention the violence and loss that coms along with it; imposing on them the reproduction of the workforce as forced labors without pay. What I fail to understand is why does capitalism continuously feel the need to degrade women? If it does concern wages; then theres the blame if of the “misbehaving wife.” Federici expresses synthesizes the racist and sexist dimension of discipline that capital seeks to impose in bodies and also the disobedient figures from which they resist it.

It is important the question of reproduction because we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis of reproduction. Sure, The demand for a domestic wage denaturalized female slavery. However is one is to pay closer attention, wage is not the ultimate goal, but merely a strategy put in place to achieve a change in the power relations between women and the capital. Reading Federici, i’ve come to the realization that labor force is not a natural thing, but that it must produce itself. This is to say that capitalism develops

rather in society. That society then becomes a gigantic pie of capitalist relations, as a fundamental terrain of capitalist accumulation. For this reason the discourse of domestic labor, of gender difference, the construction of the female model, would be considered fundamental. Today, for example, globalization in regards to  reproductive labor allows us to understand why, for the first time, women are the ones driving the migratory process

I admit, Feminist struggled for equality under capitalism from the 1960s through the ‘80s (and even before then), but there has been some progress; not much, but some. If we look at the world, and not only the situation in the United States, Europe, or Japan, we see that what we refer to as globalization and the massive entrance of women into wage work is much less uniform than usually imagined.

Witch Hunts for example, Witch-hunts were instrumental to the construction of a patriarchal order in which the bodies of women, their work, and their sexual and reproductive powers were placed under the control of the State and transformed into economic resources. This is to say, the witch-hunters were less interested in punishing a certain transgression than they were in eliminating generalized forms of female behavior that they no longer tolerated and that had to become seen as abominable in the eyes of the population.

Hi everyone,

In response to a question asked about the notes you can bring to class on Tuesday, you can bring in one page of handwritten notes. You may use both sides of the paper. Please make sure your notes are handwritten and do not include quotes.

If you are looking for all of the information posted about the midterm exam on our WordPress site, I have tagged everything I have written so that it will appear under “Outline” in “Week 08.”

Elizabeth

Hi everyone,

This is just a quick note to let you know that the midterm will take place next Tuesday, March 21st, as scheduled. If you have questions, please post them to our website so that your colleagues can benefit from reading your question and my response.

Thanks and stay warm,

Elizabeth

While I read Chapter 1 of Caliban and the Witch by Siliva Frederici , her argument of the degradation and accumulation of women was so strong. As I read this story, I began to only picture the suffering, humiliation and women’s mental status during this time.  Frederici points out the witch hunts during the 16th and 17th centuries were her main focus on accumulation of women. It was an important way to keep women under the power of men. The out casting of women was a norm to control them and to continue the process in Europe and the New World. Many women suffered a great deal. Frederici explains that the Christian Church to some extent had control on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. The social power during this time was on a global crisis. Many people died during this time due to disease that nearly wipe out the population. This is when women were highly needed for the reproduction of children to continue labor force.
Also, women were out proportion of their rights (sex and reproduction) by the church and the state.   Prostitution and rape was institutionalize and the decriminalization of rape was introduced. In many cities brothels were legalized, making it a greater means for women to survive was by prostitution.  Many outrageous laws were implanted to keep women in control and full of fear. That is where “witch-hunting”, “burning”, “torturing” and severe punishment were used against women.  Women would use contraceptive or abortion were sentences to death.
The power difference between men and women have changed but are still highly noticeable. Capitalism was emplaced as to control any rebellion. It was a way in getting out women who were against the new capitalism during this time.  Made by man a natural inferiority issue. Men continue to maintain their power using capital by devaluing women’s work and instead disciplining women. As I continue in this class and learn about women’s rights. I am very proud of what all women have accomplished over the centuries. Women still struggle every day to have equal rights.  I guess teaching others what I learn and also using my knowledge in my daily life task will help and continue to make a difference.  Change does not happen overnight. It takes time and patience.

The combination of land privatization, colonial expansion and misogyny were to blame for degradation of women. The expropriation of land occurred because of war or religion, people wanted power and once conquered, killed off majority of civilization, they moved in and took over land controlling whoever remained. Once a land was conquered by a greater force it was rare that people retaliated and succeeded. However in 1549 Robert Kett rebelled against the privatization of the land and successfully overcome an anti-enclosure fight. Kett demanded equal rights for the people, the enclosures were taken down, “The first was that ‘from hence forth no man shall enclose any more’. Other articles demanded that rents should be reduced to the rates that had prevailed sixty five years before , that ‘all freeholders and copy holders may take the profits of all common, and that ‘all bond-men may be made free, for god made all free with precious blood shedding”. Kett’s was later captured and killed. Women also fought for their rights, and tried to end enclosures, also to be seen more than property of their husbands, and reproduction machines. “And these were just a few instances of confrontation in which women holding pitchforks and scythes resisted the fencing of the land or draining of fens when their livelihood was threatened”. Women suffered terribly when the land was enclosed, most became vagabonds which in theory might have worked out for them but with the man being violent and not seeing them as equal, misogyny was on the rise. also women who became pregnant couldn’t travel from place to place as easily. In the reading there is a engraving of ‘Women and Knaves”, which is quite disturbing as t he women are following the soldiers and are muzzled like wild animals. any women who attempted to fight back or against these terrible conditions was killed. As stated, “women suffered a unique process of social degradation that was fundamental to the accumulation of capital and has remained so ever since”. Capitalism and feudalism had a negative affect on women and children; women’s bodies were seen as commodities something to profit off of, man capitalized off of their offspring. A women’s role was in the home, to maintain the house and to reproduce, this division of labor only made it worse for women they depended solely on a man to survive, and this increased the power shift that men had over women and children.

In “The Caliban and the Witch” by  Silvia Frederici, firstly points out how the transition from feudalism to capitalism; privatization of land began an extreme change, where people could not afford their living status and more, creating poverty and a major crisis among the people during the 16th and 17th century. This affected women’s in a major way, and more importantly they were degraded through the capitalism process. Allowing men to have a total control.

For instance, Frederici would argue towards the population and economic crisis, because women were a major foundation and producing children, and during the 16th century, the idea that number of people (citizens) would determine a ‘nations wealth’, a woman’s conduct and paternity were controlled. Penalties had become legal through the legal codes to women who were found guilty of committing reproductive crimes. This was highly placed on marriages, where a family would be normally created, the woman would be penalized if she took any contraception, birth controls or had any abortions and infanticide. A woman would have to register every pregnancy, and would be sentenced to death if the child died before baptism, whether she was found not guilty. The women had lost total control over her procreation process. Over all the women at this time became a tool for the reproduction of labor, work-force and seen as a natural breeding machine.

Federici would also argue on the devaluation of women’s labor in the work-force, that when it came to jobs, women were not respected enough. The Proletarian women in particular carried a low status, any work done by them was not considered actual work, it was considered “domestic work” or “housekeeping” (92). It was suggested that the woman should not work outside but inside to engage in manufacturing to “help” their husband. And although the women work was at times done for the market, she was still declined any financial recognition. And if paid, the money was not enough to live by, including that the women’s work would not be considered ‘work’ because or so because it would not fall into any ‘public relief’, in other words, public aid.

I believe the most contradicting part however was that this had led to women especially in the lower class to fall into prostitution, to avoid government capitalism, and although at some point it was legal, how can such a prostitution work force that was considered low and classless as woman be okay but the labor force women had to deal with during paternity and manufacturing labor be controlled?

Capitalism was extremely sexist and degrading.