From Plantation to Prison: The Origins of American Mass Incarceration
Channel: Havens Wright Center for Social Justice
Date: 2022-07-25

A lecture by Adaner Usmani & John Clegg exploring the historical and comparative contexts which explain why the US incarcerates such a high share of its population compared to the rest of the world.

Adaner Usmani is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Studies at Harvard University. His research is driven by two questions: Why do some people flourish while others suffer? And, what explains why, in some places but not others, movements or policies emerge to challenge or moderate this inequality? In one project, he explores when and why ordinary individuals manage to coordinate collective action, and how well these patterns explain the forward march of democracy and the extent of economic redistribution. In a different project, he studies the origins and consequences of American mass incarceration.

John Clegg is a Postdoctoral fellow in Economic History at Lund University. He works on the history of slavery and emancipation in the Americas, as well as the formation of the modern carceral state. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from NYU and was Harper Fellow at the University of Chicago.