The term I have selected is "Carceral State," which refers to a social and political system in which incarceration becomes the default solution to social problems, and punishment is the primary mode of addressing social ills. The term also encompasses the various mechanisms and institutions that enable and sustain such a system, including policing, surveillance, and the prison-industrial complex.
The Carceral State is significant to the course theme of freedom and confinement because it represents a fundamental restriction of individual freedom, particularly for marginalized and oppressed communities who are disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. It also reveals how the idea of freedom is often tied to the ability to control and punish those deemed "deviant" or "criminal," rather than creating a more just and equitable society.
In "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. critiques the Carceral State and the injustice it perpetuates. King argues that the criminal justice system is inherently biased against black people, and that the widespread use of incarceration as a means of social control perpetuates a cycle of poverty, discrimination, and violence. He also critiques the complicity of white moderates who uphold the system of racial oppression through their silence and inaction.
Similarly, in Reginald Dwayne Betts' collection of poems, Felon, the Carceral State is a central theme. Betts, a former inmate, explores the impact of incarceration on individuals and communities, and the ways in which the criminal justice system perpetuates cycles of violence and trauma. His poems reveal the dehumanizing effects of imprisonment, the loss of agency and freedom, and the barriers to reintegration faced by those who have been labeled "felons."
Overall, the concept of the Carceral State highlights the ways in which our society often prioritizes punishment and control over justice and rehabilitation, and how this approach perpetuates cycles of oppression and confinement. It is a critical lens through which to understand the systemic issues underlying mass incarceration and the need for transformative change in our criminal justice system.