This course explores the evolution and organization of “gangs” from around the world from critical gang studies perspectives rooted in the instability, inequity, and liquidity of the post-industrial era. We will look at the formation of gangs as a complex phenomenon that reflects, responds to, and creates a certain structured environment in spaces that are always in flux. We will draw on a range of culturally specific traditions to look beyond the pathological, ahistorical, and non-transformative. Instead, we look to understand how colonization and its agents: racism, segregation, capitalism, displacement, etc. contribute to the appreciation of the “gang” as socio-cultural formations.
- Instructor: Shylah Hamilton