Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-17-2023
Abstract
Precarious Citizenship: Ambivalence, Literacy and Prisoner Reentry examines the role of literacy in the experiences of formerly incarcerated people as they navigate the process of reentry into mainstream citizenry. I argue that the unsustainability of mass incarceration has created uncertainty about the place of formerly incarcerated people in the democratic imaginary, opening for debate who deserves to participate in civic life. In response, higher education is increasingly being called upon to address the precarious citizenship of formerly incarcerated people and, I argue, serves to credential formerly incarcerated people not only for future employment but for inclusion in social life. The literacy narratives these individuals tell, however, are marked by an ambivalence toward the power of literacy as a mechanism for inclusion, as well as an ambivalence toward mainstream inclusion itself.
Recommended Citation
Shelledy, M. (2023). Precarious Citizenship: Ambivalence, Literacy, and Prisoner Reentry. Literacy in Composition Studies, 10(2), 61–77. https://doi.org/10.21623/1.10.2.4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Literacy in Composition Studies
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21623/1.10.2.4
Comments
Copyright (c) 2023 Maggie Shelledy