Books for the Horde: The New Jim Crow Reading Group

A collective study of Michelle Alexander's book on the contemporary system of mass incarceration

This September we're going to revive the old book group. But instead of looking at the Civil War and Reconstruction, we're going to look at mass incarceration. There's no better book to start with on that project than Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Here is a rough schedule. We can discuss below whether this works for people. Our moderator, Kathleen, will be leading the discussion.

Wednesday, September 17:
Introduction and Chapter 1 (history of racialized social control in the United States)

Wednesday, September 24:
Chapter 2 (structure of mass incarceration) and Chapter 3 (role of race in the U.S. criminal-justice system)

Wednesday, October 1:
Chapter 4 (what happens once people are released from prison) and Chapter 5 (parallels between mass incarceration and Jim Crow)

Wednesday, October 8:
Chapter 6 (what acknowledging the presence of the New Jim Crow means for the future of civil-rights advocacy)