Books in the Law, Meaning & Violence series

Discusses the dilemmas of the relationship between the liberal state and capital punishment

Examines the traditions of American law as it appears in African-American literary life. The study reads the canonical works of 19th and 20th century black literature in the context of its responses to and critiques of American legal history.'

At Limestone Prison, the Alabama State Department of Corrections reserves Dorm 16 exclusively for inmates infected with HIV. This book takes readers for a visit to the Limestone infirmary where patients lie chained to beds while insects and rodents run freely through filthy, drafty rooms.

Presents an argument that the educational system is the subject of legislative punishment and the instrument of punishment for children. This book analyzes the connections between a culture of economic punishment of schools and the imposition of punitive controls as a vicious cycle that creates fear and develops passive and dependent citizens.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11, followed by the expose of torture in US detainment camps, dampened hopes for a peaceful world in the 21st century and challenged the belief that humanity was on a course of progress toward rational deliberation, the rule of law, and human rights. This book investigates the reasons for the resort to violence.

What is the role of punishment in a just society? What is the connection between social control and social order? This book offers a study of punishment's place in utopian political thought, mapping out the road that leads from Thomas More's ""Utopia"" to the cell blocks of Abu Ghraib.