Speaker Series: Calvin John Smiley
Reentry after release from incarceration is often presented as a story of redemption. Unfortunately, this is not the reality. Those being released must navigate the reentry process with diminished legal rights and amplified social stigmas, in a journey that is often confusing, complex, and precarious. Making use of life-history interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic fieldwork with low-income urban residents of color, primarily Black men, Calvin John Smiley finds that reentry requires the recently released to negotiate a web of disjointed and often contradictory systems that serve as an extension of the carceral system. No longer behind bars but not fully free, the recently released navigate a state of limbo that deprives them of opportunity and support while leaving them locked in a cycle of perpetual punishment. Warning of the dangers of reformist efforts that only serve to further entrench carceral systems, this book advocates for abolitionist solutions rooted in the visions of the people most affected.
To register, contact Sophie Kofman at skofman@abfn.org.
To read the related paper for Dr. Smiley’s presentation, reach out to Sophie Kofman or Dianna Garzón.
Calvin John Smiley received his PhD from The Graduate Center-CUNY in 2014. His work focuses on issues related to race, inequality, and social justice. More specifically, as a critical sociologist and criminologist, he has studied mass incarceration and prisoner reentry, particularly for urban inhabitants.
Smiley has been published in a number of academic peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. In addition, his research has been cited in notable publications such as The Washington Post and Le Monde (France). He is the co-editor of Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives of Returning Home published by Routledge Press. Finally, Smiley is working on a book-length manuscript on his work on prisoner reentry, specifically examining many of the intricacies and complications of prisoner reentry and how men and women navigate and negotiate reentry space, moving from confinement to community, with diminished legal rights and amplified social stigmas.
Explore Dr. Smiley’s research, teaching, and publications on his website.