The Insurgent Agency of Incarcerated Trans Women of Color

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2229396
AutoresJoss Greene (0000-0002-8185-2170, University of California, Davis, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume48
Fascículo4
Páginas873-896
Data de publicação2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0097-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-6943
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/724237
OpenAlexW4381487589
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas30

How do trans women of color build lives in the context of carceral violence? The literature on transgender incarceration emphasizes violation but undertheorizes agency. Thus, while patterned victimization is well documented, we know far less about how incarcerated trans women of color understand their situation and struggle for safety and dignity. Drawing on semistructured interviews with thirty-two formerly incarcerated trans women, I answer this question by applying an intersectional, abolitionist feminist framework to the empirical study of trans women’s lives behind bars. The article begins by proposing a theory of violence that connects racially gendered interpersonal harm to the systemic harms of penal institutions. The immobilization and bodily dispossession inherent in imprisonment facilitates assaults by prison guards and other prisoners. The article then turns to the ways trans women of color employ embodied social and economic strategies to meet their needs behind bars, including the need for safety. By centering the insurgent practices of incarcerated trans women of color, this study provides new insights into prison life, the intersection of state and interpersonal violence, and possibilities for agency under radical constraint

Agency (philosophy) · Context (archaeology) · Criminology · Dignity · Harm · Imprisonment · Interpersonal communication · Interpersonal violence · Intersectionality · Poison control · Political science · Prison · Race (biology) · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Women of color · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology