Precarious Citizenship: Ambivalence, Literacy, and Prisoner Reentry

Authors

  • Maggie Shelledy University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21623/1.10.2.4

Keywords:

citizenship, incarceration, reentry

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.

Author Biography

Maggie Shelledy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Maggie Shelledy is an Assistant Professor of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

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Published

2023-05-17

How to Cite

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

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Section

Articles