How has incarceration (the act of putting people in prisons) changed since the 1970s? How does mass incarceration impact voting and the census?

Question 1: How has incarceration (the act of putting people in prisons) changed since the 1970s?

  • According to Heather Thompson, what led to this drastic change?
  • How is incarceration profitable for US corporations?
  • How does mass incarceration impact voting and the census?
  • How does mass incarceration impact urban areas? How does it impact rural areas and small towns? How does mass incarceration impact wages for non-prisoners?
  • What does this tell us about American freedom in the post-1960s period? How do we make sense of this as a response to the many movements of the 1960s era?
  • Why does Thompson think this issue should frame our understanding of our historical moment?
  • Do you see any parallels between the rise of mass incarceration and earlier historical periods we have examined?

Heather Ann Thomas "Why mass Incarceration matters" (2010)

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