Set the Earth on Fire: The Great Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 and the Birth of the Police

Join David Correia, Kim Kelly and Judah Schept as the discuss Corriea’s latest book, Set the Earth on Fire: The Great Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 and the Birth of the Police.

The book is an eye-opening account of the Great Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902, showing how the strike—and the violent backlash that ensued—reveal the genesis of modern policing. As John Sayles said of the book, "David Correia has excavated a trove of forgotten or little-known history from the hard coal of Pennsylvania, culminating in the question that remains with us today— just who are the police meant to protect and serve?"

***Please note: This discussion was recorded on September 17, 2024.***

Speakers:

Judah Schept the author of Coal, Cages, Crisis: The Rise of the Prison Economy in Central Appalachia (New York University Press, 2022) and Progressive Punishment: Job Loss, Jail Growth, and the Neoliberal Logic of Carceral Expansion (NYU Press, 2015, and co-editor of The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration (Verso Books, 2024). He has been active for more than two decades with organizations and campaigns fighting for decarceration and abolition and is a Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University.

David Correia is a Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of Properties of Violence (University of Georgia Press, 2013), co-author with Tyler Wall of Police: A Field Guide (Verso, 2018), and co-author with Nick Estes, Melanie Yazzie, and Jennifer Denetdale of Red Nation Rising Nation: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation (PM Press, 2021). He is a co-founder of AbolishAPD, a research and mutual aid collective in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Kim Kelly is a Philadelphia–based journalist and organizer who writes about labor, politics, food, music, and culture. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Esquire and The New York Times. She is the author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor.

Watch the live event recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0jTPdj-bbA

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