Carceral Roots of the Centennial State

Keywords: carceral state, prison, race, gender, class, migration, conquest
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This research explores the role of prison development on the establishment and early development of the state of Colorado. I examine the social and political function and meaning of Colorado’s first prison, built in 1871, which was used to legitimize Colorado in its bid for statehood. I examine the role of the prison in establishing contested racial, gender, class, and ethnic boundaries and regulations in the newly established state, including the particular racial logics and impacts of Colorado’s carceral practices, as the state engaged in efforts to distinguish itself from the racism of the South. I illustrate how carceral practices and state-sanctioned violence complicate and intersect with ideologies of the “wild West” and in the conquest and early development of the Centennial state.