Freedom inside? yoga and meditation in the carceral state / Farah Godrej.
| Author/creator | Godrej, Farah |
| Other author | Oxford University Press. |
| Format | Electronic |
| Publication Info | New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] |
| Description | xi, 346 pages ; 24 cm |
| Supplemental Content | Full text available from Oxford Scholarship Online |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction. Why prison yoga and meditation? -- Who was I? Scholarship, personal narrative, and the testimony of the unprotected -- Yoga and meditation. Historical and contemporary debates -- The total institution. The world of mass incarceration, prisons, and population control -- "Rescued by prison" or "drinking the Kool-Aid?" Practicing while incarcerated -- Mindfulness meditation in a men's detention facility -- The world of prison volunteers -- "Making them better human beings" or "stirring the pot"? Interviews with volunteers -- Yogic philosophy, nonviolence, and resistance in a women's prison. With the coauthorship of Reighlen Jordan and Maitra -- Conclusion -- Methodological appendix. |
| Abstract | "Freedom Inside? offers a combination of personal narrative and scholarly research in order to examine the role of yoga and meditation in U.S. prisons. It offers a glimpse inside the system now known as mass incarceration, which disproportionately punishes, confines, and controls those from black, brown and/or poor communities at exponentially higher rates, diminishing their life-chances and creating a vast underclass of disempowered, subordinated citizens. How do self-disciplinary practices such as yoga and meditation work when they are taught inside unjust systems? Do they produce political passivity, quietism, and compliance, if offered as palliatives to accept, cope and comply with unjust power structures? Or, might they prove disruptive to mass incarceration, if offered as tools to develop awareness and attunement toward injustice, to engage in non-conformist responses that include critique and challenge? The book explores both the promises and pitfalls of yoga and meditation when taught in prisons in different ways. It is based on four years of immersion in prisons and prison volunteer communities, along with ethnographic work inside a detention facility, and many in-depth interviews with those who teach and practice inside prisons. It interweaves academic narratives with personal experiences of collaboration with volunteers and incarcerated practitioners"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-338) and index. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Issued in other form | Print version : 9780190070083 |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2022930594 |
| ISBN | 0190070099 paperback |
| ISBN | 9780190070090 paperback |
| ISBN | 0190070080 hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780190070083 hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780190070120 (ebook) |
| ISBN | 0190070129 |