Book Roundup: UC Press Edition

In addition to two great books from Calavita and Jenness (2014) and Aviram (2015) discussed in a previous post, UC Press has several new offerings in 2015 that should be of interest to the P&S crowd. I highlight three below:

Joachim J. Savelsberg's Representing Mass Violence: Conflicting Responses to Human Rights Violations in Darfur examines how the framing or representation of episodes of mass violence, focusing on the Darfur genocide, varies across countries and groups, and shapes responses to this violence. From the blurb:

How do interventions by the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court influence representations of mass violence? What images arise instead from the humanitarianism and diplomacy fields? How are these competing perspectives communicated to the public via mass media? Zooming in on the case of Darfur, Joachim J. Savelsberg analyzes more than three thousand news reports and opinion pieces and interviews leading newspaper correspondents, NGO experts, and foreign ministry officials from eight countries to show the dramatic differences in the framing of mass violence around the world and across social fields. Representing Mass Violence contributes to our understanding of how the world acknowledges and responds to violence in the Global South.

Note that this book is Open Access and available online for free!

Michael Welch gives us Escape to Prison: Penal Tourism and the Pull of Punishment, which explores the growing industry of prisons as tourist attractions worldwide. From the blurb:

The resurrection of former prisons as museums has caught the attention of tourists along with scholars interested in studying what is known as dark tourism. Unsurprisingly, due to their grim subject matter, prison museums tend to invert the “Disneyland” experience, becoming the antithesis of “the happiest place on earth.” In Escape to Prison, the culmination of years of international research, noted criminologist Michael Welch explores ten prison museums on six continents, examining the complex interplay between culture and punishment. From Alcatraz to the Argentine Penitentiary, museums constructed on the former locations of surveillance, torture, colonial control, and even rehabilitation tell unique tales about the economic, political, religious, and scientific roots of each site’s historical relationship to punishment.

Finally, Marjorie S. Zatz and Nancy Rodriguez have written Dreams and Nightmares: Immigration Policy, Youth, and Families. This book examines immigration policy with particular emphasis on its effects on children. From the blurb:

Dreams and Nightmares takes a critical look at the challenges and dilemmas of immigration policy and practice in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. The experiences of children and youth provide a prism through which the interwoven dynamics and consequences of immigration policy become apparent. Using a unique sociolegal perspective, authors Zatz and Rodriguez examine the mechanisms by which immigration policies and practices mitigate or exacerbate harm to vulnerable youth. They pay particular attention to prosecutorial discretion, assessing its potential and limitations for resolving issues involving parental detention and deportation, unaccompanied minors, and Dreamers who came to the United States as young children. The book demonstrates how these policies and practices offer a means of prioritizing immigration enforcement in ways that alleviate harm to children, and why they remain controversial and vulnerable to political challenges.