Death Before Sentencing
Making a case for substantial prison reform, this week's review examines the lack of accountability American county and local jail systems take for the avoidable deaths of detainees.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Posted on January 8, 2018 in Review of the Week
Gilmore, Leigh. Columbia, 2017
218p bibl index, 9780231177146 $30.00, 9780231543446 $29.99
Gilmore (women’s and gender studies, Wellesley) apples an unflinching feminist critique to questions of credibility that seem to be the default position when the testimony of women is considered. The author begins with a reexamination of Anita Hill’s testimony in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She illustrates how the issue began with Hill’s experience of a common scenario in the life of a woman of color, fixing her assertions in the foundations of both race and gender. Thomas took away Hill’s foundation of race by claiming for himself the role of a racial victim of a “high tech lynching.” Hill’s testimony was reduced to the common he said-she said equation that so often devalues the testimony of a female victim. Gilmore examines the cases of Rigoberta Menchu and Nafissatou Diallo. In both of those cases, it is clear that the credibility of Menchu and Diallo’s testimonies were compromised by their gender. Further, Gilmore examines the phenomenon of a “proxy witness,” in which it is beneficial or even necessary in the patriarchy that a man tell the story of the woman victim. A very provocative and well-grounded work that deserves considerable attention.
Summing Up: Essential. All Readership Levels.
Reviewer: F. E. Knowles, Valdosta State University
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences
Choice Issue: Jul 2017
Making a case for substantial prison reform, this week's review examines the lack of accountability American county and local jail systems take for the avoidable deaths of detainees.
Posted on in Review of the Week
To commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month, this week's review analyzes the community-building and activist practices Mexican and Puerto Rican migrants employed in 20th-century Michigan.
Posted on in Review of the Week
This week's review offers a roadmap for teaching contemporary US history, providing instructors with tips to tackle recent divisive topics and engage students with primary sources.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Researching the experiences of day laborers in Denver, Colorado, this week's review examines wage theft and nefarious labor practices that reflect broader systemic labor issues in the US.
Posted on in Review of the Week