Source: Week 13 Discussion, Prof Victoria Robinson
Tags: gender, race, neoliberalism, prison industrial complex, abolitionism, trans rights, cisgender privilege, Dean Spade, Nikki Jones, Andrea Smith, maroon abolitionists, reform vs revolution, ES21AC
This week's discussion links gender and race as co-constitutive systems of control, particularly through the prison industrial complex. Neoliberal globalisation criminalises marginalised groups, while mainstream reform efforts often reinforce the very structures they claim to fix. Abolitionist frameworks (maroon abolitionism, revolutionary reform) call for dismantling, not merely adjusting, these systems.
Cisgender (cis)
A person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. Falls within the gender binary. Cisgender privilege refers to the systemic advantages cis people hold over trans and gender-nonconforming people.
Gender binary
The classification of gender into two distinct, fixed categories: male and female. Prisons and many social institutions enforce this binary rigidly.
Prison industrial complex (PIC)
The overlapping interests of government and industry that use policing, surveillance, and imprisonment as responses to social, political, and economic problems. Disproportionately targets trans people, people of colour, and those in lower socioeconomic classes.
Neoliberalism
An economic and political framework emphasising free markets, deregulation, and reduced social spending. In this context, it criminalises migrants and economically disadvantaged populations through globalisation.
Three pillars of white supremacy (Andrea Smith)
A framework describing how white supremacy operates through three distinct but interconnected logics: slavery/capitalism, genocide/colonialism, and orientalism/war. Each pillar targets different groups in different ways.
Outsiders within (Nikki Jones)
A concept describing how Black women occupy a marginal position even within the category "women," excluded from mainstream feminist protections and discourse.
Maroon abolitionists
Abolitionists who draw on lived experience of oppression, not only academic knowledge. The term references historical maroon communities (escaped enslaved people who formed independent settlements).
Reform reform vs. revolutionary reform
Reform reform makes incremental changes but leaves the underlying oppressive system intact (and may reinforce it). Revolutionary reform seeks to dismantle the system entirely and rebuild on new foundations.
Degendering sexual organs
The idea that body parts do not determine gender identity. A person can have anatomy typically associated with one sex and identify as another gender.
Race and gender operate together, not as separate axes of oppression
Prisons are structured around the gender binary and systematically discriminate against trans people
Trans people are routinely misgendered, placed in facilities that do not match their identity, and subjected to heightened violence
Andrea Smith's three pillars of white supremacy provide a framework for understanding how racial and gendered violence are structurally intertwined
Neoliberal globalisation creates conditions where migrants and economically disadvantaged groups are criminalised rather than supported
Social safety nets are eroded, pushing vulnerable populations into contact with the carceral system
This disproportionately affects trans people, people of colour, and those in poverty
Mainstream LGBTQ movements have often centred cisgender-normative goals (marriage equality, military service), sidelining trans and gender-nonconforming people
These goals seek inclusion within existing institutions rather than questioning the institutions themselves
Social programmes can function as tools of erasure for trans people, people of colour, and lower socioeconomic groups
Prisons enforce the gender binary rigidly, which is particularly harmful for trans and non-binary individuals
Gender itself can be understood as a colonial introduction, imposed through European colonial structures on societies that had different understandings of gender
Black women are often excluded from the social category "women" as it is constructed in mainstream discourse
They do not receive the same protections or inclusion in feminist conversations
Violence within relationships affecting Black women is often overlooked or inadequately addressed by both feminist and anti-racist frameworks
Maroon abolitionism values experiential knowledge, not only theoretical understanding
People who have lived through the systems of oppression are centred as experts and leaders in the movement
The term connects to the history of maroon communities, self-liberated people who built their own societies outside the control of slaveholders
Reform reform has achieved some gains but perpetuates the underlying structures of oppression
Example: reforms that claim to protect trans people in prisons but still stigmatise them as sexual predators
The state continues to emphasise the power and authority of police officers, even through "reform" efforts
Revolutionary reform is not about saving or tweaking existing institutions but about dismantling them and rebuilding from new ideas and principles
⚠️ Be able to distinguish reform reform from revolutionary reform, with examples from the readings.
⚠️ Know Andrea Smith's three pillars of white supremacy and how they connect to gendered violence.
⚠️ Understand why mainstream LGBTQ movements are critiqued for centring cisgender-normative goals at the expense of trans inclusion.
⚠️ The concept of "outsiders within" is a key analytical tool. Be ready to apply it beyond Black women to other groups occupying marginal positions within broader identity categories.
⚠️ "Gender is a colonial introduction" is a claim that comes up across multiple weeks. Be prepared to explain what it means and cite supporting arguments.
Q: How does Dean Spade argue that race and gender are connected within the prison system?
A: Spade argues that race and gender are co-constitutive, meaning they reinforce each other structurally. Prisons enforce the gender binary and disproportionately target people of colour and trans people. The system does not treat these as separate issues; instead, being trans and being a person of colour compounds the forms of discrimination and violence a person faces within the carceral system.
Q: What is the difference between reform reform and revolutionary reform?
A: Reform reform makes incremental improvements within the existing system but leaves its fundamental structures intact, and can even reinforce them (e.g., prison reforms that still treat trans people as threats). Revolutionary reform aims to dismantle oppressive systems entirely and rebuild based on new principles, rather than adjusting the institutions that produce harm.
Q: Why does Nikki Jones describe Black women as "outsiders within"?
A: Black women are nominally included in the category "women" but are often excluded from the protections, resources, and conversations that the category is supposed to provide. They sit inside the group but outside its benefits, making them outsiders within their own supposed identity category.
Q: What critique is made of mainstream LGBTQ movements in relation to trans people?
A: The critique is that mainstream LGBTQ movements have focused on goals that serve cisgender, often white and middle-class, members of the community (marriage equality, military service). These goals seek acceptance within existing institutions and the gender binary, rather than challenging the structures that marginalise trans and gender-nonconforming people.
Q: What does it mean to say "gender is a colonial introduction"?
A: This claim argues that the rigid gender binary (male/female) was not universal across all cultures but was imposed through European colonialism. Many Indigenous and non-Western societies had more fluid or multiple understandings of gender before colonial contact. The binary was enforced as part of broader colonial control.
ES21AC, gender and race, prison industrial complex, trans rights, cisgender privilege, Dean Spade, Nikki Jones, Andrea Smith, three pillars of white supremacy, neoliberalism, globalisation, criminalisation, outsiders within, maroon abolitionists, reform reform, revolutionary reform, gender binary, degendering, colonial gender, prison abolition, carceral state, LGBTQ critique, intersectionality, gender-nonconforming