New Books in Sociology Brittany Friedman, "Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons" (UNC Press, 2025)
Jun 5, 2025
Brittany Friedman is an assistant professor at USC and the author of 'Carceral Apartheid.' She discusses how the California prison system collaborates with white supremacists to undermine Black political movements. The conversation dives into themes of deception, surveillance, and racial categorization. Friedman highlights the importance of ethical research, human-centric scholarship, and the need for truth-telling in academia. Listeners will explore the intersection of resilience and resistance against the oppressive dynamics of the carceral state.
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Integrating Multiple Identities
- Brittany Friedman integrates her identities as a sociologist, writer, and herbalist into her work without compartmentalizing them.
- She believes in combining all aspects of herself to enrich her scholarly and creative outputs.
Challenging Official Prison Narratives
- Brittany Friedman found all four major California prison gangs were founded around the same prisons, sparking her research.
- She was dissatisfied with official narratives funded by law enforcement and sought deeper truths through independent inquiry.
Follow Your Research Instincts
- Academic funding decisions influence which questions get researched and which get ignored.
- Researchers should trust their instincts and pursue original, boundary-pushing projects despite skepticism.
