Fabricating the color line in a white democracy: From slave catchers to petty sovereigns

B Brucato - Theoria, 2014 - berghahnjournals.com
Theoria, 2014berghahnjournals.com
Though states are founded in and dependent on successfully claiming a monopoly on the
use of violent force and the certification of citizenship, these means suggest particular ends:
the production of the social order. Police have the primary mandate to produce order and
administer poverty. From a new abolitionist perspective, the particular social order of the US
is unique. The white race was founded through the production and maintenance of the color
line and performed through a cross-class alliance of whites. Policing is deeply implicated in …
Though states are founded in and dependent on successfully claiming a monopoly on the use of violent force and the certification of citizenship, these means suggest particular ends: the production of the social order. Police have the primary mandate to produce order and administer poverty. From a new abolitionist perspective, the particular social order of the U.S. is unique. The white race was founded through the production and maintenance of the color line and performed through a cross-class alliance of whites. Policing is deeply implicated in these processes. A historical account of police during the Herrenvolk era is provided. Finally, the persistence of racist policing is explained in light of a now officially color-blind political order, with officers functioning as petty sovereigns in a neoliberal era.
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