University of California Press Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico

In her exciting new book, Marisol LeBrón traces the rise of punitive governance in Puerto Rico over the course of the twentieth century and up to the present. Punitive governance emerged as a way for the Puerto Rican state to manage the deep and ongoing crises stemming from the archipelago’s incorporation into the United States as a colonial territory. A structuring component of everyday life for many Puerto Ricans, police power has reinforced social inequality and worsened conditions of vulnerability in marginalized communities.   This book provides powerful examples of how Puerto Ricans negotiate and resist their subjection to increased levels of segregation, criminalization, discrimination, and harm. Policing Life and Death shows how Puerto Ricans are actively rejecting punitive solutions and working toward alternative understandings of safety and a more just future. Review "Presents a timely and hopeful book to the canon of Puerto Rico, policing, and colonialism."-- "Black Perspectives" "LeBrón effectively expose[s] . . . the cyclical destruction of colonial capitalism in the neoliberal period. In the Puerto Rican case, capital flight and the erosion of social programs and economic opportunities precipitated a series of crises--unemployment, crime, debt, dilapidated infrastructure--and those crises were used to justify further austerity and privatization, which exacerbated existing crises, spawned new ones, and continued the cycle. LeBrón's notion of punitive governance fits neatly within this narrative."-- "New Labor Forum" "The book's framing of the issues, its solid research methodology, and diversity of approaches to the analysis of crime, policy responses, and resistances, makes for a great critique of the legitimacy and role of the state in contemporary social relations ."-- "Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association" "LeBrón masterfully blurs latinx, black, carceral, feminist, queer, and critical ethnic studies. . . . Policing Life and Death will be the standard for contemporary studies of policing in Puerto Rico going forward."-- "H-Net" "For both local and foreign readers, the book present an ideal model of an exhaustive case study, embodied though detailed descriptions that help us understand how deadly policies manifest themselves in a colonial context. . . . Lebrón's book is ideal for anyone interested in the effects of punitive governance in colonial contexts."-- "Latino Studies" "Marisol LeBrón brilliantly traces the origins and evolution of punitive governance in Puerto Rico. . . . [and her book] is a major contribution to American studies, history, urban studies, geography, and other fields."-- "AAG Review of Books" "Lebron's book is well-written and [we] recommend it, especially for scholars or policymakers interested in an interdisciplinary assessment of the implementation of repressive policies against crime."-- "Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books" From the Inside Flap "In this extraordinary book, Marisol LeBrón does a brilliant job of helping us see the everyday activism and cultural inventiveness of Puerto Ricans figuring out how to respond to state repression and colonial capitalism. It’s a genuinely thrilling read."—Laura Briggs, author of  How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics: From Welfare Reform to Foreclosure to Trump " Policing Life and Death deftly illuminates the long historical presence of 'punitive governance' in Puerto Rico, demonstrating the depth to which gendered, racist state violence defines the US colonial/neocolonial relationship with the island and its people. This indispensable study not only focuses on the normalized, cross-generational violence generated by the policing and criminological regimes, but also pays rigorous attention to the ways Puerto Rican activists, artists, community leaders, and others respond to—and potentially transform—this punitive condition."—Dylan Rodríguez, author of  Forced Passages: Impr