Georgetown University LogoGeorgetown University Library LogoDigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
    • Communication, Culture & Technology Master of Arts Program (CCT)
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Communication, Culture & Technology
    • View Item
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
    • Communication, Culture & Technology Master of Arts Program (CCT)
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Communication, Culture & Technology
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    From Cries to Whimpers: The Evolution of Marginality Within Contemporary American Supermax Prisons

    Cover for From Cries to Whimpers: The Evolution of Marginality Within Contemporary American Supermax Prisons
    View/Open
    View/Open: Feldman_georgetown_0076M_12703.pdf (313kB) Bookview

    Creator
    Feldman, Jennifer Natasha
    Advisor
    Ribes, David
    Abstract
    This thesis is a multidisciplinary study of supermax prisons and solitary confinement that draws on sources such as articles from law journals and newspapers, case law testimonies and court opinions, and the history and anthropology of prisons, in an attempt to explain the consequences of such confinement on both its prisoners and the society to which they soon will return. Specifically, I examine how the technologies of supermax, such as fully automated cells that support "touchless" long-term solitary confinement, video visitation and telemedicine, and even nutritional technologies such as "nutraloaf" (1) contribute to the production of the unique conditions present in contemporary supermax prisons in American; (2) affect the interactions between inmates and staff; and (3) mask the injustices inherent in the very design of supermax prisons.
     
    I conclude that supermax prisons resemble the camp space in the state of exception described by Giorgio Agamben in three major ways: symbolically, they were conceived of as spaces defined in actual states of exception that, over time, have become normalized in practice as the rule; physically, they are located in distant, liminal places within America that effectively remove their inmates as far as possible from society; and at the structural level of imprisonment, they create and sustain conditions that further marginalize prisoners in ways that are symbolically, physically, and legally more restrictive than ever before seen in American corrections.
     
    Description
    M.A.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/709741
    Date Published
    2014
    Subject
    Agamben; dehumanization; solitary confinement; supermax prisons; technology; United States; Research; Criminology; Philosophy; American studies; Criminology; Philosophy;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    85 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Communication, Culture & Technology
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Cover for The History and Evolution of American Torture and Secret Prisons (1898-2008)

      The History and Evolution of American Torture and Secret Prisons (1898-2008) 

      Ramesh, Ritica (2019)
      This thesis outlines the history of the US government’s use of torture as an official policy in its warfare. The thesis addresses the cases of the Philippine-American War (1898–1902), the Vietnam War (1965–1972), and the ...
    Related Items in Google Scholar

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility
     

     

    Browse

    All of DigitalGeorgetownCommunities & CollectionsCreatorsTitlesBy Creation DateThis CollectionCreatorsTitlesBy Creation Date

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility