Joshua Dubler "Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons"

#MEDIAMATTERS: SOCIAL JUSTICE AS PRODUCT AND PROCESS and LANDIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM AWARENESS WEEK co-present
JOSHU DUBLER: BREAK EVERY YOKE: RELIGION,
JUSTICE, AND THE ABOLITION OF
PRISONS

Joshua Dubler is a critically engaged scholar whose teaching and writing takes place where American religious history and ethnography intersect with critical theory, and with the theory of religion. Among other topics, he teaches classes on Religion in America, Islam in America, Theories of Religion, Guilt, Genealogy, and Pilgrimage. He is author of Down in the Chapel: Religious Life in an American Prison. With Andrea Sun-Mee Jones, he is the co-author of Bang! Thud: World Spirit from a Texas School Book Depository. With Vincent Lloyd, he is currently writing a book titled “Break Every Yoke: Religion, Power, and the End of Mass Incarceration,” which looks to marshal religious resources toward prison abolition. He also is working on a cultural history of the concept of guilt in America. Presented by: Office of Intercultural Development, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, LANDIS Criminal Justice Week

Talk Abstract 
"In recent years, an increasing number of critics, politicians and members of the general public have come to agree that we must "end mass incarceration." If we are truly to end mass incarceration, the way to do it is to demand prison abolition. Abolition, and not reform, is correct on its merits and apt politically. The principle problem with abolishing prisons is that abolishing prisons is manifestly impossible. In his talk, Dubler will think critically about how and why prisons became "necessary," and he will chip away at the impossibility of prison abolition. Special attention will be given to what American religion has to offer to the abolitionist project."