Because poverty affects women of color (Black, Indigenous, Latin American, Asian) more than white women, this reality ends up affecting poor women of color disproportionately, which explains why they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

1 Module VII | Celling Black, Indigenous, & Latina Women Discussion Forum (100 points) and Video Comment (100 points) Due on Sun May 10, 11:59pm In her masterpiece Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins (2002) introduces the notion of intersecting oppressions: race, gender, sexuality, and nation work together to produce social injustice at a certain point in history. In other words, “oppression cannot be reduced to one fundamental type” (21) such as for instance, capitalist exploitation or white supremacy. Hegemony, that is, the power relations that are predominant in society, and the ideologies that support them, is maintained through the joint effect of a variety of social structures. This way, whereas some sociological studies focus on only one structure of oppression, Collins argue that the economic, political, and ideological dimensions of oppression function as an integrated system. Centering on or prioritizing one certain dimension would bias the result, neglecting pieces of information that are essential to understand the root causes of social injustice. This way, if we were to analyze oppression in a specific case, it would not be sufficient to focus only on one social structure, for instance, social class. The analysis would have to first identify each social structure intervening to produce a hierarchical relation -e.g. the capitalist system, white supremacist ideologies, patriarchal culture, compulsory heterosexuality (that is, the idea that heterosexuality is the norm and non-heterosexual identities are deviant cases) and so forth. Subsequently, the researcher would have to unveil how these structures interact with each other to produce or reproduce a certain status quo, at a specific moment in history. Through the notion of intersecting oppressions, it is possible to fully appreciate Sudbury’s contribution to our understanding of what she calls “the global boom in women’s imprisonment” (2005:3), that is, her explanation of the reasons behind the global increase in the rate of female imprisonment (which has been expanding faster than the rate of male imprisonment), and the consolidation of the “prison industrial complex,” defined by Sudbury as: the “symbiotic and profitable relationship between politicians, corporations, the media and state correctional institutions that generates the racialized use of incarceration as a response to social problems rooted in the globalization of capital” (165-6). In other words, Sudbury argues that the prison system is a byproduct of globalization. To justify her perspective, two arguments are provided. One, as we studied in Module V, the beginning of mass incarceration is to be found in the suppression of the social movements that in the 60s and 70s were fighting against the socioeconomic imbalances brought about by economic exploitation, and free trade agreements, in a context of major cuts in the federal funding for social welfare programs (mainly in critical infrastructure, housing, education, and health, etc.): “criminalization therefore became the weapon of choice in dealing with the social problems caused by the globalization of capital and the protest it engendered” (166). Module VII | Celling Black, Indigenous, & Latina Women 2 Secondly, according to Sudbury, the social inequality that is bolstered by globalization pushes poor women towards the drug markets. Because poverty affects women of color (Black, Indigenous, Latin American, Asian) more than white women, this reality ends up affecting poor women of color disproportionately, which explains why they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. In brief: “the crisis of women’s prisons can therefore be read as a crisis for black women and women of color worldwide” (164). For instance, some poor women of color get involved with the illicit drugs commerce through coercive and violent partners, or because they feel trapped by the overwhelming responsibilities of being the sole caregivers of their children. Going back to Collins’ notion of intersecting oppressions, it could be argued that the expansive incarceration rates of women worldwide is the product of the joint workings of capitalist oppression, gender relations, and racial structures: “Black women and women of color are the raw material that fuel the prison industrial complex” (Sudbury 2005:176). Assignment VII is divided in two parts: 1) Discussion Forum Celling Black, Indigenous, and Latina Women (100 points): For this component, read Sudbury’s article, and explain in depth what your understanding of the following quote is, using the notion of intersecting oppressions (350 words): Prisons serve a vital role in suppressing dissent and invisibilizing disenfranchised populations. They therefore maintain the viability of corporate globalization and mask its devastating effects on global majority communities. Prisons also play a direct role in capital accumulation since their operation generates profit for corporations engaged in building, equipping and operating them as well as those employing prisoners as cheap labour. Increasingly, black women and women of colour are the raw material that fuel the prison industrial complex: as scapegoats of tough-on-crime rhetoric; targets of drug busting operations that generate millions for police, customs and military budgets; or workers sewing and assembling electronics in prison workshops. There is a need for a new anti-racist feminism that will explore how the complex matrix of race, class, gender and nationality meshes with contemporary globalized geo-political and economic realities. (177) Remember that the answers to the Discussion Forums will follow an academic format, as in a brief academic essay. This includes citations in ASA Style as in: (Sudbury 2005:177), and also, an introduction and a conclusion. Reviewing the Rubric that is used for grading discussion forums before drafting an answer, is highly recommended. To post an answer use the link: Discussion Forums > Ceiling Black, Indigenous, and Latina Woman > Create Thread. 2) VoiceThread Video-Comment (100 points): To complete this component, go to Oral Presentations and watch the VoiceThread presentation Reproduction Control: Feedback. Review the article by Dorothy Roberts Punishing Drug Addicts Who Have Babies (which you read for Module V), and also the article No Alternative by Santos and Briones (Module VII).