In 1972, the French philosopher Michel Foucault visited Attica in upstate New York. Though he was engaged in prison politics in his native France, this was probably the first penitentiary the author of Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1977) was able to enter. In the United States, Attica unfailingly conjures up memories ofone of the deadliest prison uprisings in American history—the subject of a penetrating and celebrated new study by Heather Ann Thompson. Our symposium aims at bringing these prison histories into dialogue.

Professor Thompson’s interlocutor, Bernard Harcourt, is a political theorist with a focus on penal practices. He edited Foucault’s works on punitive society and counts among the theorists of the carceral state.

Link below to read the interview Foucault gave after his visit to Attica Prison. Hard copies available in the Eisenberg Institute (1521 Haven Hall).

https://www.jstor.org/stable/29766617

Presented with support from the Political Theory Workshop and the Department of Political Science.

This event is free and open to the public. We regret that lunch will not be served at this event due to the 1-3 pm timing.

This event is part of the Friday Series of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.