Overview

A journalist goes behind bars in nine countries to explore the state of the global prison sytem Beginning in Africa and ending in Europe, Incarceration Nations is a first-person odyssey through the prison systems of the world. Professor, journalist, and founder of the Prison-to-College-Pipeline, Dreisinger looks into the human stories of incarcerated men and women and those who imprison them, creating a jarring, poignant view of a world to which most are denied access, and a rethinking of one of America's most far-reaching global exports- the modern prison complex. From serving as a restorative justice facilitator in a notorious South African prison and working with genocide survivors in Rwanda, to launching a creative writing class in an overcrowded Ugandan prison and coordinating a drama workshop for women prisoners in Thailand, Dreisinger examines the world behind bars with equal parts empathy and intellect. She journeys to Jamaica to visit a prison music program, to Singapore to learn about approaches to prisoner reentry, to Australia to grapple with the bottom line of private prisons, to a federal supermax in Brazil to confront the horrors of solitary confinement, and finally to the so-called model prisons of Norway. Incarceration Nations concludes with climactic lessons about the past, present, and future of justice.

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9781590517277

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Powerful...Dreisinger carries out an incisive inquiry into the standards for a just society s humane treatment of its prisoners. Publishers Weekly In a world where mass incarceration has reached levels of near insanity, Dresinger s stirring work offers new ideas in an area that seems to be starving for them. This book is a more than a cry for massive overhaul in prison reform, it gives voice to the silent millions of men and women who live behind prison walls on every continent, and whose suffering is a reflection of our own inhumanity and fear. Forgiveness, payback, restoration, these are the words peppered throughout this well-written work of redemption and identity.This book is living proof that mass incarceration is a virus that infects us all. James McBride, author of The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird Incarceration Nations sheds important light on the ways that justice systems around the world are similar, as well as their unique aspects. It uncovers both their most horrifying and hopeful parts. Offering historical investigation and myriad facts, and complementing that research with personal experiences and stories of human beings, the book captures the reader into more inquiry about this vast and critical subject. This is a great read for both students of criminal justice, as well as citizens of the world. Debbie Mukamal, Executive Director, Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Stanford Law School Despite tacit awareness that the prison crisis is global and that the global prison s modern form is US-generated, work on incarceration is almost always limited by national context. The work of gaining access and trust, of studying multiple intricate systems and national contexts, of traveling long distances and juggling multiple exchanges while achieving depth of focus is surely too great for one scholar. Or so it would seem. Dreisinger s Incarceration Nations, which documents prisons on four continents, appears to do the impossible. It's a vital work part memoir, part scholarly excavation that manages to inspire even as it chronicles some of the world s most horrific places. Dreisinger s long history of work with the currently and formerly incarcerated is the perfect background and material for weaving an account that asks all of the right questions, setting us on a path while acknowledging that answers are really just the ground for asking anew. Gina Dent, Associate Professor and Chair, Feminist Studies, UC Santa Cruz In Incarceration Nations, Baz Dreisinger makes a truly important contribution to the discussion of one of America's most notorious exports prisons. Observing the American penal landscape through the lens of prisons in nine diverse countries, Dreisinger is able to feel sympathy for both victims and prisoners while showing that nations from Uganda to South Africa to Australia expect more than just punishment and warehousing out of their corrections systems. As deplorable as the conditions in some of those prisons are, America can learn a lot from Incarceration Nations about how to tackle our own mass incarceration dilemma. Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Advisor, NYCMayor's Office of Criminal Justice Incarceration Nations is required reading for anyone concerned about the severity of punishment in America, and that should be all of us. Baz Dreisinger traces our legacy of mass incarceration around the globe. She does it with honesty, courage, and humility over the size of the problem, and yet she finds magical possibilities everywhere she goes when the imprisoned are treated as real persons. There are answers. This book says we can find them. Robert A. Ferguson, George Edward Woodberry Professorof Law, Literature, and Criticism, Columbia University

In Incarceration Nations, Baz Dreisinger makes a truly important contribution to the discussion of one of America's most notorious exports prisons. Observing the American penal landscape through the lens of prisons in nine diverse countries, Dreisinger is able to feel sympathy for both victims and prisoners while showing that nations from Uganda to South Africa to Australia expect more than just punishment and warehousing out of their corrections systems. As deplorable as the conditions in some of those prisons are, America can learn a lot from Incarceration Nations about how to tackle our own mass incarceration dilemma. Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Advisor, NYCMayor's Office of Criminal Justice Incarceration Nations is required reading for anyone concerned about the severity of punishment in America, and that should be all of us. Baz Dreisinger traces our legacy of mass incarceration around the globe. She does it with honesty, courage, and humility over the size of the problem, and yet she finds magical possibilities everywhere she goes when the imprisoned are treated as real persons. There are answers. This book says we can find them. Robert A. Ferguson, George Edward Woodberry Professorof Law, Literature, and Criticism, Columbia University

Author Information

An Associate Professor in the English Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, Baz Dreisinger is the founder and Academic Director of the Prison-to-College Pipeline program (P2CP), which offers credit-bearing college courses and reentry planning to incarcerated men. She is also a reporter on popular culture, the Caribbean, world music, and race-related issues for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and NPR, among other outlets, and a co-producer and co-writer of the documentaries Black & Blue- Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop, which investigates the New York Police Department's monitoring of the hip-hop industry, and Rhyme & Punishment, about hip-hop and the prison industrial complex. She is the author of Near Black- White to Black Passing in American Culture (2008), and has recently appeared on CNN and MSNBC for discussion concerning the Rachel Dolezal scandal.

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