Surveillance, Policing, and Carceral Relations of Settler Colonialism
Antonina Woodsum, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Wesleyan University
"Surveillance, Policing, and the Carceral Relations of Settler Colonialism" examines how throughout the first half of the 20th century, local police, county sheriffs, and federal officers patrolled the Southern California borderlands– both the US-Mexico border and California Indian reservation borders– and participated in surveillance, raids, and arrests of California Native people and white and Mexican residents who interacted with them. The violent and coercive imposition of national and state laws introduced new power relations between state officials, Indian subjects, and non-Indians who engaged with these communities for leisure, labor, and profit. The paper argues that these carceral practices attempted to regulate and supersede sovereign relations that Southern California Indian nations fought to sustain on their own terms as the US state, settlers, and corporate interests increasingly encroached on their territories.
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This event is free, but all participants must register in advance. Space is limited, so please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.
Register and Request PaperAbout the Borderlands and Latino/a Studies Seminar Series
This seminar provides a forum for works-in-progress that explore topics in Latino/a and Borderlands studies. The seminar’s co-sponsors are Indiana University’s Latino Studies Program, Northwestern University’s Program in Latina and Latino Studies, The Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the Center for Latino Research at DePaul University, the Katz Center for Mexican Studies at the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago Latin American and Latino Studies Program.