“Refusing Proper Subjection” - Andrew Krinks on the Religious Function of Mass Criminalization
Jan 3, 2025
auto_awesome
Andrew Krinks, an independent scholar and author based in Nashville, dives into the intertwining of mass criminalization and racial capitalism. He reveals how policing and prisons are deeply embedded in religious ideology, drawing from both Marxist and Christian perspectives. Krinks discusses the dynamics of whiteness, property values, and their effects on urban neighborhoods, as well as the theological roots of modern policing practices. His insights illuminate the complex relationships between faith, race, and the systemic issues facing marginalized communities.
Mass criminalization serves a religious function in racial capitalism, intertwining police power and moral surveillance within society.
The evolution of whiteness alongside property relations reflects societal hierarchies that influence contemporary policing and racial identities.
Racial capitalism stigmatizes poverty, framing idleness as a moral failing that justifies the systemic criminalization of marginalized communities.
The interplay of property relations in policing reveals its role as a protector of elite interests, maintaining socio-economic hierarchies.
Deep dives
The Religious Function of Mass Criminalization
Mass criminalization serves a religious function within the framework of racial capitalism, according to Andrew Krinks. He argues that this system deeply intertwines police power and religious ideology, suggesting that the structures of law enforcement are informed by theological concepts. For example, the criminalization of Black and Brown communities is not solely a political or economic issue but also reflects a manifestation of moral and spiritual failure as defined by the dominant culture. This complex relationship highlights that policing acts not just as a mechanism of control but also as a reflection of moral surveillance and social order within society.
Historical Context of Whiteness and Property
The concept of whiteness has evolved alongside capitalist property relations, shaping societal hierarchies and power dynamics. Krinks discusses how early laws and social contracts facilitated this transformation, using John Locke's theories on property to demonstrate how land ownership became synonymous with freedom and superiority. Those who identified as white enjoyed privileges that were often denied to the dispossessed, suggesting that land held under private ownership was a mark of moral legitimacy. This historical narrative reveals whiteness as a dynamic that incorporates economic power while simultaneously constructing racial identities, which continue to influence present-day policing and social categorizations.
Racial Capitalism and Idleness
Racial capitalism contributes to the systemic criminalization of individuals deemed idle within society, creating a severe stigma attached to poverty and unemployment. Krinks explains that ideologies around being 'idle' function as a justification for policing marginalized communities, especially those defined as non-white. This perspective shifts blame for societal issues onto individuals who are unable to engage meaningfully in the labor market, thereby framing them as moral failings within the capitalist system. The negative association between idleness and criminality reflects broader cultural narratives that legitimize state intervention and repression.
The Role of Property Relations in Policing
Krinks highlights the integral role of property relations in the development and justification of police institutions. By outlining how the presence of dispossessed individuals challenges property ownership, he demonstrates that policing often serves to protect elite interests rather than the common good. This protective aspect manifests in laws targeting homelessness, trespassing, and vagrancy, which disproportionately affect non-white populations. The enforcement of these property-centric laws reveals policing as a tool that inherently maintains socio-economic hierarchies.
The Moral Implications of Debt and Trespass
In examining the Lord's Prayer's language surrounding debt and trespass, Krinks underscores the moral weight these concepts carry within both religious and social contexts. Both terms reflect a broader societal expectation that individuals uphold certain moral standards correlated to ownership and social behavior. The stigma attached to debts contrasts sharply with how trespass is perceived, as debts can be seen merely as personal failures, while trespassing represents a violation of property rights. This duality encapsulates the complex interplay of morality, property, and policing, creating a socio-legal landscape where certain behaviors are criminalized based on existing hierarchies.
The Impact of Gender and Class on Criminalization
Krinks delves into how gender and class interact within structures of criminalization, particularly affects how white individuals are perceived by the system. He asserts that poor white individuals share a paradoxical position where they are both included and excluded from the benefits of whiteness. While they do not hold the same status as wealthier white counterparts, they embody a complex category within the hierarchy of racial capitalism that prioritizes property ownership. This dynamic complicates the narratives around criminalization, emphasizing that policing targets gendered and classed experiences while also challenging the notion of a homogenous white identity.
Conclusion on the Interconnectedness of Race, Class, and Capitalism
The discussion in this podcast emphasizes the interconnected nature of race, class, and capitalism in shaping contemporary policing practices. Krinks argues for the necessity of recognizing that criminalization is a multifaceted issue, influenced by historical and socio-economic factors that extend beyond simplistic racial categorizations. He calls for a deeper understanding of how these systems interact, stressing that abolishing policing and mass incarceration requires a re-envisioning of societal values concerning property, race, and class. This integral approach to understanding the complexities of injustice invites further dialog on the need for systemic reform that addresses these fundamental issues.
The book is really interesting and I highly recommend it, this is part 1 of a 2 part discussion we recorded on it. You can pick it up from Massive Bookshop the bookstore that uses their revenue from book sales to bail people out of jail.
In this discussion Krinks goes into the religious function that the mass criminalization of Black, Brown, and dispossessed peoples serves within the racial capitalist system. Engaging with Marxist and materialist explanations as well as Christian theologians and bourgeois philosophers, we get into how police and prisons are tethered deeply with religious ideology, which also finds quarter within the so-called secular theorists who provided the political philosophical underpinnings of the capitalist system. We also get into dynamics of race making and racialist thinking by way of folks like Cedric Robinson and Ruth Wilson Gilmore to examine the connection between race making and property relations.
I’ll also note that last year we hosted a video conversation with Melayna Kay Lamb and Tia Trafford about the philosophical underpinnings of police power that has some important areas of overlap with this discussion as well, but focuses a bit more on European secular philosophy and policing.
Starting on Monday the 6th we’ll be hosting a new live series on our YouTube channel with Mtume Gant who is a filmmaker, media critic, and professor of film, where we will be talking about Cedric Robinson’s Forgeries of Memory and Meaning. So if you like this conversation I think you’ll find a lot of resonance with those discussions as well as they really go into how and when race-making processes are instrumentalized in the media, using historical examples.
And lastly it is a new year, and we have a ton of new content coming this year. Last year we published 115 video episodes, and 38 audio episodes. We hope to be similarly productive again this year, but in order to do that we do need your support to be able to put in the amount of time necessary to get all that work done. You can become a patron of the show for as little as $1 a month. We should have another study group starting up in February and that is open to all of our patrons as well. So head over to Patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism and kick in a $1 a month or more to that effort.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
