Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture

by Joy James

Book by James, Joy

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, Politics, Feminism, History, Gender and Sexuality, Gender

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Joy James is the John B. and John T. McCoy Presidential Professor of Humanities and College Professor in Political Science at Williams College. She is the author of Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture, and her edited works on incarceration and human rights include States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons and Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion.

Reviews

[Tim Haslett · Rating 5 out of 5]

You gotta hand it to Joy James. She works her ass off as anti-incarceration activist, is a black feminist dynamo, is incredibly prolific and each of her books seems better than the last. I only hope she doesn't succumb to what Michele Wallace calls the impossible 'black superwoman' ideal, which robs many black women of pleasure in their lives and leads to existential and spiritual fatigue and exhaustion. Her prose is lucid, expansive, open to non-academic readers. This book is undoubtedly a key volume in the tradition of radical black thought, sitting alongside Du Bois, Malcolm X, Cleaver, Davis, Cooper, Wells, Cruse, Jackson, Robinson, Washington, Truth and so on.

Her critique of Foucault and the Foucauldian subject in the first chapter is thrilling. No one critiques Foucault, right? Wrong. Very satisfying, and she retains some of his most radical insights. I could go on, but really the political power of the book speaks for itself.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my schoolwork (read: I didn't read all of it). I mainly read the sections that dealt with the US "at Home"(as opposed to her discussions of colonialism abroad), and I found these to be very helpful and illuminating for James' critical reframing of structures and narratives of violence, oppression, and resistance. I especially liked "Radicalizing Language and the Law" and "Symbolic Rage."

[Anjali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative overview of parts of history I need to learn more about (our invasion of Panama, Reading more closely in regards to Anita Hill, academia blind spots ) While a bit dense at times, I was thoroughly engaged while reading this book of essays.

[Yohanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this and learned so much. Very thoughtfully done.