The protests spurred by police killings of African Americans and other people of color has finally brought the punitive nature of the U.S. state into national view. Writer JoAnn Wypijewski argues that for at least the past half century we’ve been witnessing a particularly punishing turn by the state, often fueled by moral panics about sex. She makes sense of the present, in light of struggles over crime and punishment, wrongdoing and restorative justice, including in #MeToo.
Resources:
JoAnn Wypijewski, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About #MeToo: Essays on Sex, Authority and the Mess of Life Verso, 2020