The meet-up series is curated by Cassie Thornton, who will address various topics that tackle our conference themes. This event ‘While people sleep, the (state) amazon dreams’, preceding the SMART PRISONS conference will address the notion of prison. What role does prison play in our dreams? Are prisons your worst nightmare? What is there to be afraid of? are just some of the questions that will be asked in this initiating event. It will also address the use of smart technologies in imprisoning and monitoring, as well as analyse prediction algorithms of new technologies and shopping giants like Amazon.

Abolitionist feminists like Angela Davis and Ruth Gilmore have shown us that prisons are not only punishing spaces that perpetuate the inequalities of racial capitalism. They are also an institution that transforms all of society, and are deeply integrated into corporate power and the emergence of new technology, including notably in surveillance and logistics. Prison is a physical and psychic instrument that secures us inside the nightmare of racial capitalism. In the first event in the Regular Disruptions series, we will start a conversation about smart prisons, Amazon, and financialization.