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Institute for Advanced Study Presents
Perceived Threats: Postcolonial Futures of Policing
(In)Justice Series
Wed, Feb 5, 3:30 pm CT
In-person / Livestream
Free Event, Registration Requested
Best Buy Theater
Why are police equipped and trained to treat citizens like enemies of war? Julian Go (University of Chicago), with William P. Jones (University of Minnesota), complicates our global conversation on the colonial roots of policing and its futures. Discussing what he calls the “imperial boomerang,” Go pinpoints how the mindset of imperial expansion and domination abroad permanently changed how police treat citizens at home. Militarized policing mirrors the tools and technologies of colonial policing abroad—but its logic also mirrors a response to perceived racialized threats from minority and immigrant populations, fear of revolution, and rebellion in the streets. The panelists will explore the imperial connections and deep subconscious assumptions that inform contemporary trends, all with an eye towards what it will take to demilitarize policing.
The 2024-25 (In)Justice Series on Just Policing presented by the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota critically examines how policing intersects with broader societal issues across the globe and explores efforts to reform, transform, or abolish policing. Presented in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon-funded Sawyer Seminar on Just Policing.