Danielle S. Allen

Justice by Means of Democracy by Danielle Allen is an accessible and compelling argument for placing political equality as the base from which the other important aspects of a just society must flow.

While this is, as I said, very accessible it also warrants a careful reading. Allen lays her argument out very well and even when citing other thinkers, she explains their ideas so that those unfamiliar with them can follow. I am glad I was familiar with some of them, it certainly made it easier for me to understand, but even the parts that cited ideas that I didn't know I never felt lost.

I'm not going to try to put Allen's entire argument into a few sentences, I wouldn't do it justice and would likely emphasize the areas I knew best and skip those I don't. In addition to both a theoretical and a practical approach, what I find here is something I am finding in a lot more texts than back when I was either a student or an academic, namely the dynamic nature of big ideas we often, in the public sphere, think of as static.

Justice, freedom, democracy, and all of the systems and policies that work toward these ends need to be treated and acknowledged as dynamic, always being reconsidered in light of what is working and, more important, what isn't working. And the way to make sure we have the best information to make those ongoing assessments is to ensure that everyone is free to live their lives and speak their opinions in an open and constructive manner.

I would highly recommend this to readers who want to work toward a better world as well as those who have an academic interest in the topic. Hopefully the second group is also part of the first, but some do get caught up in the intellectual gymnastics and forget it all means nothing if not applied to the real world. This is a book that will reward multiple readings and, one hopes, extensive discussion.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (més)

In Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A., Danielle Allen, political scientist and Harvard professor, tells the personal story of her cousin Michael’s incarceration, brief life and murder. She describes his upbringing in Southern California and being sentenced for carjacking at fifteen just as the State had instituted its Three Strikes Law, his time in jail—taking college courses, working as a firefighter, and then his eventual release. How the family worked together for his homecoming, housing and jobs, but Michael didn’t make it, fell back in with his transgender girlfriend from prison, who shot Michael and left him for dead.
There is plenty of heartache in this book. Allen goes back and forth in the book from Michael’s homecoming and attempts to right his life, to the story of his childhood. In addition, Allen gives a run-down of what created the societal conditions in Los Angeles in the nineties—the drug and gang culture, the increasing incarceration, and the poverty of the region. Also—this book does a good job of covering how difficult the prison system is for the families—the endless waiting, tight rules, and little to no communication by the prison.
For me, the saddest was the chapter written by Michael himself. It is an essay describing his work as a firefighter for the prison. You read that essay, and you begin to think of a different future that Michael might have had.
This book was very much in the vein of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. And unfortunately, we need more voices to tell these stories. The millions gone that Allen writes about.
If you are still not convinced to read the full book, then at least read Allen’s article for the New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/24/the-life-of-a-south-central-statis...
Another plug here…I actually read the acknowledgments and was delighted to see Allen thanks Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for inviting her to give a series of lectures which then became this book. I watch Dr. Gates show on PBS, Finding Your Roots. If you haven’t seen it—check it out. Talk about some fascinating history and family stories…
… (més)

In “Cuz”, the story of the ill-fated life of the author’s cousin serves both as a eulogy and as a vehicle for a concise analysis of the conditions that led to his downfall. While the tale of economic deprivation leading to dysfunction and tragedy may sound familiar, the purpose of the book is not to break our hearts yet again, though it does. Instead, it offers a clear understanding of the forces at play and the policies at the heart of oppression as experienced real people. It’s the flesh and blood story that gives depth and indelibility to that understanding.

Gangs were originally formed for mutual protection against the attacks from racist outsiders. With the advent of the lucrative drug trade, some gangs used their organizational advantage to get in on the profits, though to a far lesser degree than was widely believed, even by law enforcement agencies who could have known better. The war on drugs conflated gang activity with drug dealing. Anti-gang measures essentially criminalized being black with roughly half the black men in Los Angeles in the gang database maintained by law enforcement.

At the same time the judicial system became clogged with low level drug use cases, rendering the system incapable of dealing with more serious crime. Homicide went unpunished enabling gangs to rule their turf with ruthless impunity. Youth are forced to join gangs on pain of death. Families do not have the resources to escape.

The author refers to the druglord tyranny as the parastate, which, along with the militarized police force brought to bear on neighborhoods victimizes the populations trapped within its borders.

Despite the weight of its subject, the book reads easily. The author’s tone is caring but unsentimental and her self-reflection made her approachable. Most valuable for me was her concise analysis of the forces at play, made tangible by the real lives they affected.
… (més)