Source: Lecture 1, Professor Victoria Robinson
Tags: American Cultures, Ethnic Studies, racialization of space, George Lipset, anti-apartheid, ACES, Third World Liberation Front, TWLF, neoliberalism, Black Panther Party, DACA, segregation, criminalization
The American Cultures (AC) requirement at UC Berkeley grew directly out of student activism against South African apartheid and demands to desegregate the university curriculum. The course is organised around three modules: an introduction to key concepts through the lens of how Ethnic Studies itself has been criminalised, the prehistory of the Prison Industrial Complex including the racialization and criminalisation of space, and the intersection of protests, state response, and neoliberalism. George Lipset's work on how power, space, and race form "fatal assemblages" is a foundational framework.
American Cultures (AC)
A graduation requirement at UC Berkeley that emerged from student-led movements to diversify and desegregate the curriculum. Paired with community engagement through the ACES programme (created in 2010).
ACES (American Cultures Engaged Scholarship)
Created in 2010, a programme that pairs the American Cultures requirement with active community engagement, linking classroom learning to real-world participation.
Racialization of space
The process by which geographic areas become associated with specific racial identities and are then treated differently by institutions, policing, and policy. Neighbourhoods become coded as "dangerous" or "other" along racial lines.
Specialization of race
The complementary process to racialization of space: racial groups are confined to or associated with particular geographic areas, creating concentrated segregation.
Fatal assemblages
A term from George Lipset describing the way power, space, and race combine into configurations that produce harm, violence, and death for marginalised communities. These are not accidental overlaps; they are structured and reinforcing.
Third World Liberation Front (TWLF)
A coalition of student groups at UC Berkeley (and San Francisco State) in the late 1960s that led strikes demanding the creation of Ethnic Studies departments and a more inclusive curriculum. A direct ancestor of the American Cultures requirement.
Neoliberalism (in this context)
The political and economic framework that shapes state responses to protest and dissent, including the criminalisation of radical organisations and the rolling back of social programmes. In this course, used specifically to describe how the state has responded to movements like the Black Panthers and Third World left.
Mixed status (in the context of state response)
Appears again here in connection with how the state uses immigration enforcement as a tool of control, particularly against activist communities and communities of colour.
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
An Obama-era executive order that allowed certain undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to defer deportation. Referenced in the lecture in connection with a Supreme Court case where 23 states refused to adhere to the order, illustrating the contested nature of immigration policy and prosecutorial discretion.
The AC requirement grew out of the fight against South African apartheid
Students engaged in open political protest against apartheid in South Africa
The South African government responded with violence against protesters
The Congressional Black Caucus pressured the South African embassy
Protests spread to Berkeley's campus and other colleges across the US
Out of this energy came demands to desegregate the curriculum
Ethnic Studies had been marginalised within the university
Students argued the curriculum did not reflect the diversity of American experience
ACES was created in 2010 to add a community engagement layer to the AC requirement
The course is structured around three modules that build on each other:
Module 1 – Introduction to Key Concepts
Uses the film Precious Knowledge as a case study
Precious Knowledge documents how Arizona criminalised Ethnic Studies programmes
That criminalisation was later overruled by the 9th Circuit Court
The module establishes that the study of race and power is itself a contested and sometimes criminalised activity
Module 2 – Prehistory of the Prison Industrial Complex
Centres on the work of George Lipset
Lipset discusses "fatal assemblages" of power, space, and race
Two key processes:
Racialization of space: neighbourhoods become racially coded and then criminalised
Specialization of race: racial groups are confined to specific areas
The US is more racially segregated now than in the 1960s
Examples of racialised and segregated spaces: Chinatown, the ghetto, Japantown, Manilatown
The critical insight: neighbourhoods themselves become criminalised, not just the people in them
Module 3 – Protests, State Response, and Neoliberalism
Explores mixed status as a site of state intervention
Examines radical Third World organising and how the state criminalised the Third World left
Traces the roots of the Black Panther Party and its connection to the Bay Area
Analyses how neoliberal policy frameworks shaped the state's response to protest movements
A key claim in the lecture: the US is more racially segregated in the present day than it was in the 1960s
This is not a failure to progress; it is an active process of re-segregation
Specific neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Japantown, Manilatown, "the ghetto") illustrate how racial communities are both concentrated and then subjected to criminalisation
The criminalisation of neighbourhoods is distinct from the criminalisation of individuals; it targets geography as a proxy for race
At the time of the lecture, the Supreme Court had taken up a case involving 23 states refusing to comply with President Obama's executive order on DACA
The legal question centred on prosecutorial discretion: the power of the executive to decide which immigration cases to pursue
This is a live example of how the state uses (or withholds) enforcement power along lines that intersect with race, immigration status, and political power
George Lipset's framework: Power + Space + Race = Fatal assemblages (not a formula in the mathematical sense, but a conceptual model that should be understood as a system of reinforcing relationships)
Film: Precious Knowledge – key case study for Module 1; documents the Arizona ban on Ethnic Studies
⚠️ The American Cultures requirement has a specific political origin in anti-apartheid activism. Be able to trace the line from South Africa to Berkeley's campus to the AC requirement.
⚠️ George Lipset's concepts of racialization of space and specialization of race are foundational to Module 2. Be able to define both and give examples (Chinatown, Japantown, Manilatown, the ghetto).
⚠️ The claim that the US is more segregated now than in the 1960s is a core argument. Be prepared to explain how this is possible and what mechanisms drive it.
⚠️ The criminalisation of Ethnic Studies in Arizona (and its reversal by the 9th Circuit) is not just background; it is the entry point for the course's argument that studying race is itself a political act.
⚠️ "Fatal assemblages" is a specific term from Lipset. Don't confuse it with general discussions of intersectionality; it refers specifically to how power, space, and race combine to produce harm.
⚠️ DACA and the 23-state refusal case illustrate prosecutorial discretion as a concept. Understand how discretion operates as a tool of both protection and control.
Q: What historical movement led directly to the creation of UC Berkeley's American Cultures requirement?
A: The fight against South African apartheid. Student protests against apartheid spread from South Africa to Berkeley and other US campuses, fuelling demands to desegregate the curriculum. The American Cultures requirement emerged from these demands.
Q: Explain George Lipset's concept of "fatal assemblages" and how it relates to the Prison Industrial Complex.
A: Fatal assemblages describe the way power, space, and race combine into structured configurations that produce harm for marginalised communities. This relates to the PIC because the criminalisation of racialised neighbourhoods, the concentration of policing in those areas, and the economic interests driving incarceration all reinforce each other as an assemblage.
Q: What is the difference between "racialization of space" and "specialization of race"?
A: Racialization of space is the process by which geographic areas become associated with specific racial groups and are then treated differently by institutions and policy. Specialization of race is the complementary process whereby racial groups are confined to or identified with particular geographic areas. Together, they produce segregated and criminalised neighbourhoods.
Q: How does the Arizona criminalisation of Ethnic Studies (as shown in Precious Knowledge) connect to the course's broader argument about the PIC?
A: The Arizona case demonstrates that studying race and power is itself treated as a threat by the state, paralleling how the PIC criminalises communities. The 9th Circuit's reversal shows that this criminalisation is contested, but the attempt itself reveals how knowledge about racial structures is policed.
Q: What was the legal significance of the DACA case mentioned in the lecture?
A: The case involved 23 states refusing to follow President Obama's executive order on DACA, which used prosecutorial discretion to defer deportation for certain undocumented immigrants. It highlighted how the state's enforcement power can be used or withheld along lines of race and immigration status, and how that discretion itself becomes a political battleground.
American Cultures, AC requirement, Ethnic Studies, ACES, American Cultures Engaged Scholarship, George Lipset, fatal assemblages, racialization of space, specialization of race, racial segregation, Chinatown, Japantown, Manilatown, Third World Liberation Front, TWLF, Black Panther Party, neoliberalism, criminalisation of protest, Precious Knowledge, 9th Circuit Court, DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, prosecutorial discretion, mixed status, anti-apartheid, Congressional Black Caucus, UC Berkeley