
Freedom Inside? Offers A Combination Of Personal Narrative And Scholarly Research In Order To Examine The Role Of Yoga And Meditation In U.s. Prisons. It Offers A Glimpse Inside The System Now Known As Mass Incarceration, Which Disproportionately Punishes, Confines, And Controls Those From Black, Brown And/or Poor Communities At Exponentially Higher Rates, Diminishing Their Life-chances And Creating A Vast Underclass Of Disempowered, Subordinated Citizens. How Do Self-disciplinary Practices Such As Yoga And Meditation Work When They Are Taught Inside Unjust Systems? Do They Produce Political Passivity, Quietism, And Compliance, If Offered As Palliatives To Accept, Cope And Comply With Unjust Power Structures? Or, Might They Prove Disruptive To Mass Incarceration, If Offered As Tools To Develop Awareness And Attunement Toward Injustice, To Engage In Non-conformist Responses That Include Critique And Challenge? The Book Explores Both The Promises And Pitfalls Of Yoga And Meditation When Taught In Prisons In Different Ways. It Is Based On Four Years Of Immersion In Prisons And Prison Volunteer Communities, Along With Ethnographic Work Inside A Detention Facility, And Many In-depth Interviews With Those Who Teach And Practice Inside Prisons. It Interweaves Academic Narratives With Personal Experiences Of Collaboration With Volunteers And Incarcerated Practitioners-- Provided By Publisher.
This book investigates whether self-disciplinary practices like yoga and meditation serve as tools for political compliance or as catalysts for resistance within the American carceral system. Farah Godrej, a political theorist, utilizes her academic background to analyze the intersection of contemplative practices and mass incarceration. By examining the systemic inequities that disproportionately affect marginalized communities, the author questions if these practices act as palliatives for acceptance or as mechanisms for developing critical awareness against structural injustice.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of carceral sociology and the political implications of mindfulness practices. Readers frequently note the balance between rigorous academic inquiry and the inclusion of personal narratives from incarcerated practitioners.
Page Count:
0
Publication Date:
2022-01-01
Publisher:
New York, NY : Oxford University Press,
ISBN-10:
0190070129
ISBN-13:
9780190070120
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