The recent explosion in women's imprisonment in the US--a 2,800 percent increase from 1970 to 2001--and around the world has received little critical analysis. Women of color, immigrants, and indigenous women, in particular, have been targeted by "tough on crime" policies and the global war on drugs, making them the majority inside prison walls while still the minority outside of them. The symbiotic relationship between private prison corporations and the state criminal justice system has also led to harsher sentencing and enforcement, causing prison overcrowding and creating a demand for more prison construction.
This collection of essays provides a new analysis of women's imprisonment, shifting the focus from women's behavior to the role of the state, corporations, and the media in fueling prison expansion. The contributors argue that the rise in women's criminalization worldwide is shaped by global factors, from free trade agreements and neoliberal restructuring to multinational corporate expansion.While much analysis has focused on imprisoned men, scholars have neglected to look at the way race, gender, class and nation affect the criminalization of women of color. The essays engage in such controversial topics as "drug mules," immigrant trafficking, and the war on terror.

Accounts of political activism in African Caribbean and Asian communities often overlook the role of black women activists, contributing towards an image of passivity, apathy and exclusion. Through an empirical study of black women's organizations, this book interrogates contemporary theories of racism and racialization, political mobilization and feminism relating experiences of black women to wider issues of politics and difference, class and coalitions.
"Other Kinds of Dreams" questions the homogeneity of the term "black" and asks whether increasing social stratification within black communities undermines this unity. It also analyzes the relationship between black women's organizations, black men and white feminists within the context of coalition for social transformation.

Through an empirical study of black women's organisations, this book interrogates contemporary theories of racism and racialisation, political mobilisation and feminism relating the experiences of black women to wider issues of politics and difference, class and coalitions.

Other Kinds of Dreams questions the homogeneity of the term 'black' and asks whether increasing social stratification within black communities undermines this unity. It also analyses the relationship between black women's organisations, black men and white feminists within the context of coalition for social transformation.

Other Kinds of Dreams provides an invaluable insight into the political activity of black women despite immense barriers, both internal and external to their communities

Can scholars generate knowledge production and pedagogy that bolster local and global forms of resistance to U.S. imperialism, racial/gender oppression, and the economic violence of capitalist globalization? This book explores what happens when scholars create active engagements between the academy and communities of resistance. In so doing, it suggests a new direction for antiracist and feminist scholarship, rejecting models of academic radicalism that remain unaccountable to grassroots social movements and exploring the community and the academy as interlinked sites of struggle. The chapters are authored by leading scholars from the U.S., Canada, India, Japan, and the UK who are involved in feminist, antiracist, indigenous sovereignty, transgender liberation, antiglobalization, antimilitary, and antiprison movements. They provide models and the opportunity for critical reflection for students and faculty as they struggle to align their commitments to social justice with their roles in the academy. At the same time, they explore the tensions and challenges of engaging in such contested work.

The recent explosion in women's imprisonment in the US- 2,800 percent increase from 1970 to 2001- and around the world has received little critical analysis. Women of colour, immigrants, and indigenous women, in particular, have been targeted by 'tough on crime' policies and the global war on drugs, making them the majority inside prison walls while still the minority outside of them. The symbiotic relationship between private prison corporations and the state criminal justice system has also led to harsher sentencing and enforcement, causing prison overcrowding and creating a demand for more prison construction. This collection of essays provides a new analysis of women in prison, shifting the focus from the reasons behind women's criminal behavior to the role of the state, corporations, and the media in their imprisonment. While much analysis has focused on the rise of imprisoned men of color, scholars have neglected to look at the way race, gender, and class affect the criminalization of women. The essays engage in such controversial topics as the war on drugs, immigrant trafficking, and prisoner rights.

Can scholars generate knowledge production and pedagogy that bolster local and global forms of resistance to U.S. imperialism, racial/gender oppression, and the economic violence of capitalist globalization? This book explores what happens when scholars create active engagements between the academy and communities of resistance. In so doing, it suggests a new direction for antiracist and feminist scholarship, rejecting models of academic radicalism that remain unaccountable to grassroots social movements and exploring the community and the academy as interlinked sites of struggle. The chapters are authored by leading scholars from the U.S., Canada, India, Japan, and the UK who are involved in feminist, antiracist, indigenous sovereignty, transgender liberation, antiglobalization, antimilitary, and antiprison movements. They provide models and the opportunity for critical reflection for students and faculty as they struggle to align their commitments to social justice with their roles in the academy. At the same time, they explore the tensions and challenges of engaging in such contested work.