Reconceptualizing Political Knowledge: Race, Ethnicity, and Carceral Violence

Abstract

What is political knowledge? We argue that the traditional measure of political knowledge is limited, as it represents one domain of facts that people should know about American politics. This domain of knowledge is rooted in the liberal-democratic face of the state and neglects other political knowledge generated from the carceral face of the state. We argue that knowledge of carceral violence, especially against African Americans, represents a separate domain of knowledge that is particularly relevant to marginalized communities, especially black youth. Once we include carceral violence in our measures of political knowledge, established patterns of whites having more political knowledge than Blacks are reversed. Using a novel measurement strategy and based on a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 young people, we find that knowledge of carceral violence is distinct from measures of what has been called general political knowledge. Finally, we find that knowledge of carceral violence has distinct correlates from the standard knowledge battery and its relationship to political participation varies by racial group but tends to depress the political participation of African Americans. Our findings raise the question of what comprises relevant and important political knowledge today and for which communities.

Too Much Knowledge, Too Little Power: An Assessment of Political Knowledge in Highly Policed Communities

“…Within the traditional study of political knowledge, some have countered claims that black and Latinx populations have uneven political knowledge (Pérez 2015). Beyond this literature, Melissa Harris-Lacewell has underscored the need to see ordinary sites of black cultural life as sites of political discourse and shared knowledge (2004); scholars in other traditions (i.e., standpoint theory) have long understood the importance of the unique experiential knowledge of oppressed populations, or what Michel Foucault termed "subjugated knowledge" (Cohen 2004;Cohen and Luttig, forthcoming;Collins 1990;Foucault 1980;hooks 1990). Still, this understanding is not typically taken up by scholars working on political knowledge.…”

Submerged for Some? Government Visibility, Race, and American Political Trust

“…Sierra, a multiracial interviewee, discussed how she learned about the "importance" of government in her life by seeing videos of police shootings in her social media feed (Thurston 2018). This sentiment aligns with research demonstrating the role that social media plays in providing political knowledge about policing for people of color, and more generally finds agreement with research showing that people of color have greater political knowledge about the CLS (Cohen and Luttig 2019;Weaver, Prowse, and Piston 2019).…”

History, Agency, Power, and Linked Fate

“…Scholars also need to incorporate fully into their research the untapped knowledge of ethnic elites and the lived experiences of the groups they represent. Researchers studying the American carceral and welfare state from the racial perspective already have called for this kind of bottom-up-approach (Cohen and Luttig 2020;Weaver, Prowse, and Piston 2019;Michener, SoRelle, and Thurston 2020). A broad bottom-up view deepens our understanding not only of the political development of racial minority communities, but also how American democracy has functioned and faltered for those on its periphery.…”

“…As recent studies (Cohen and Luttig 2020;Weaver, Prowse, and Piston 2019) have demonstrated, members of marginalized minority groups often have much deeper knowledge of how the U.S. government has worked against them rather than for them. As a result of their power to control and regulate people, some government institutions are also more visible to these groups than they are to whites (Rosenthal 2020;Michener, SoRelle, and Thurston 2020).…”