Spiritual Entrepreneurs
Florida's Faith-Based Prisons and the American Carceral State
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
The overall rate of incarceration in the United States has been on the rise since 1970s, skyrocketing during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and recently reaching unprecedented highs. Looking for innovative solutions to the crises produced by gigantic prison populations, Florida’s Department of Corrections claims to have found a partial remedy in the form of faith and character-based correctional institutions (FCBIs). While claiming to be open to all religious traditions, FCBIs are almost always run by Protestants situated within the politics of the Christian right. The religious programming is typically run by the incarcerated along with volunteers from outside the prison. Stoddard takes the reader deep inside FCBIs, analyzing the subtle meanings and difficult choices with which the incarcerated, prison administrators, staff, and chaplains grapple every day. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research and historical analysis, Brad Stoddard argues that FCBIs build on and demonstrate the compatibility of conservative Christian politics and neoliberal economics.
Even without authoritative data on whether FCBIs are assisting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism rates, similar programs are appearing across the nation—only Iowa has declared them illegal under non-establishment-of-religion statutes. Exposing the intricate connections among incarceration, neoliberal economics, and religious freedom, Stoddard makes a timely contribution to debates about religion’s role in American society.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this vibrant study, Stoddard (Stereotyping Religion) unpacks the complex inner workings of Florida's faith- and character-based correctional institutions, or FCBIs, facilities administered and funded by religious volunteers for approved prisoners. Stoddard argues that Christian programming "premised on neoliberal capitalism" predominates in FCBIs, and his attentive analysis also reveals unveils "multiple subcultures" in the institutions: there are evangelical chaplains swamped with paperwork, a Wiccan group of inmates that summons the demon Astaroth to protect them from Christian correctional officers, and "inmate facilitator" Ibraheem, who provides accountability to fellow Muslims: "You don't see Allah... but you do see me, and I'm watching you as well." One memorable profile is of volunteer Bob Rumbley, who once opposed the building of a prison in his neighborhood, but now teaches classes at an FCBI and runs "a Christian reentry home for formerly incarcerated men." While Stoddard is highly critical of the ways in which the Christian right and policies of discipline and punishment dominate FCBIs, stories like that of Rumbley's change of heart from a "tough-on-crime Christian" to volunteer advocating for prison reform brings a human touch to the proceedings. It's an intelligent take on an under-the-radar niche in the American prison system, and one that will raise eyebrows with readers interested in the intersection of faith and justice.
