Prison Industrial Complex Diaries (installation view)

One of the central ideas behind the Recording Carceral Landscapes project is that mass incarceration is a social and cultural “machine” that runs throughout society. The Prison Industrial Complex is, in fact, very complex. The PIC does not exist somewhere “out there” but is woven into the fabric of everyday life.

In each of these conversations with prominent prison activists, a different aspect of the Prison Industrial Complex is taken up. Prof. Ruth Wilson Gilmore talks about the roots of the PIC in slavery, the convict lease system, and the Military Industrial Complex. Rose Braz describes the political scene in Sacramento, California and explains how decisions about prisons get made in government. Craig Gilmore talks about California’s rural areas and the effects of the California prison boom on the Central Valley. Dr. Terry Kupers takes up the question of the Security Housing Unit (the notorious “supermax” prison model) and explains how torture became normal in U.S. prisons. Finally, Rachel Herzing talks about prison abolition and what it means to imagine a world without prisons.

These interviews are presented here in both HTML and in PDF forms. Please feel free to download, print, and distribute these texts for educational or other non-commercial purposes.