Race, Gender, and Incarceration in Brazil: Who Produces Knowledge About Incarceration in Brazil?
Event Description: This presentation asks not only what we know about incarceration in Brazil, but who is authorized to produce that knowledge. Drawing on more than a decade of work with incarcerated women as a lawyer, activist, and researcher, I reflect on how race, gender, lived experience, activism, and fieldwork shape the production of criminological knowledge. In dialogue with Brazilian Black feminist thought, particularly the work of Lélia Gonzalez, I introduce Amefrican Criminology as an emerging framework for rethinking how knowledge about prisons is produced from Brazil and the Americas.
Speaker's bio: Caroline Mendes Bispo is a Brazilian lawyer, researcher, and activist pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology and Law at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Brazil. She is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. Her research focuses on women’s incarceration, racial inequality, and knowledge production across the Americas, drawing on more than a decade of research, advocacy, and fieldwork in the Brazilian prison system. She is the founder and president of Elas Existem – Mulheres Encarceradas, a Brazilian organization dedicated to the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women.
This event is co-sponsored by the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies & the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS).
Registration is required for all individuals not affiliated with Columbia University.
