- Between weeks 8 and 12, each student should provide a weekly reflection (500 words) on the data you have collected to date.
- What data did you collect?
- What is your initial impression of the data?
- How have the data you have collected this week changed/progressed your thinking about your research project?
- What challenges did you encounter while collecting the data?
- What are your next steps?
I began my research this week by collecting information about neoliberalism. I have found and read several articles which discuss neoliberalism in depth, it’s origins in the US, it’s history, and its qualities. I am learning as much as I can about neoliberalism so that I can decide how I can best relate neoliberalism to the prison industrial complex. Specifically, I have collected information about neoliberal rational (Wendy Brown) neoliberal economic restructuring (fiscal austerity, privatization, and market liberalization), and disciplinary neoliberalism (Wamsley). I think all of this information will be relatable to a study of the prison industrial complex, explaining both how it is created by, and perpetuates, neoliberal conditions. It was hard to sift through literature about neoliberalism, a lot of it is very wordy and somewhat hard to tease apart and understand. Next week I will start looking more into how neoliberalism relates to the prison industrial complex, using my findings this week to guide and inform my search.
Try not to dwell too much on the theoretical literature on neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is a multifaceted concept and you should focus only on some aspects of it. You will come across more than one definition of neoliberalism and do not try to reconcile them with each other. Make your own definition of neoliberalism based on our course material.