Indefinite Detention, Colonialism, and Settler Prerogative in the United States

• Published in: Social & legal studies Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 32 - 65
• Main Author: Saito, Natsu Taylor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-02-2021; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: American history; Civil rights; Colonialism; Democracy; Detention; Involuntary; Jurisdiction; Primacy; Rights; Slavery; United States > US; mass incarceration; settler colonialism; plenary power; Colonialism; slavery; immigration detention; carceral state; indefinite detention; internment; inclusive exclusion
• ISSN: 0964-6639; 1461-7390
• DOI: 10.1177/0964663918769362

The primacy accorded individual civil and political rights is often touted as one of the United States’ greatest achievements. However, mass incarcerations of indefinite duration have occurred consistently throughout US history and have primarily targeted people of color. The dominant narrative insists that the United States is a political democracy and portrays each instance of indefinite detention in exceptionalist terms. This essay argues that the historical patterns of indefinite detention are better explained by recognizing the United States as a settler colonial state whose claimed prerogative to expand its territorial reach and contain/control populations over which it exercises jurisdiction has inevitably resulted in the involuntary inclusion and concomitant exclusion of peoples of color.