A few weeks ago, Eve wrote a Novel Hand article on college and universities’ contribution to the prison-industrial complex through avenues such as the purchase of prison-made goods and the use of food service providers that provide abysmal food services in prison. Both of these actively serve individuals and corporations that profit off of prison labor. However, your college or university may also be profiting off of the prison system through its investment portfolio.
What is the Prison-Industrial Complex?
The Prison-Industrial Complex is a term popularized in the late 1980’s by Angela Davis and Atlantic journalist Eric Schlosser (though it is unclear who actually coined it). Angela Davis wrote extensively about the issue, calling out the structural similarities between the growing penal system and the military-industrial complex in the way that they profit off of business-government linkages. Eric Schlosser’s 1988 article “The Prison-Industrial Complex” in the Atlantic defines the complex as “a set of bureaucratic, political, and economic interests that encourage increased spending on imprisonment, regardless of the actual need.”
Critical Resistance, an international grassroots movement seeking abolition of the prison-industrial complex (PIC), describes the PIC more broadly as “the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.”
What is divestment?
Quite simply, in the context of monetary investments such as that of a college or university endowment, to divest is to stop investing in certain companies. In this context, divestment refers to divesting from the PIC. However, this term has also been widely used by college activists who seek for their institution to divest from fossil fuel companies.
How do you know if your college invests in the Prison-Industrial Complex?
This question is often not as easily answered as one would think. There are a number of ways that colleges and universities can support the prison-industrial complex. Some of the most recognizable investments are in private prison operators such as CoreCivic (formerly the Corrections Corporation of America) and GEO Group (a “publicly traded real estate investment trust,” but actually the second largest for-profit prison operator). However, colleges and universities can indirectly fund the prison-industrial complex by investing in companies that use prison labor, that are financed by prison construction bonds, or by investing in a number of corporations that operate within prisons such as analytic companies, weapons manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, telecommunication companies, and more.
For example, the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign (HPDC) created a report categorizing at least $3 million of Harvard’s investments in the PIC. However, HPDC’s report points out that one of the biggest challenges of tracking a college or university’s investments is the large percentage of investments in private holdings. For example, Harvard has an endowment of approximately $40 billion. However, only 1% of that endowment goes into public holdings, and 96% into private holdings. The $3 billion they calculated comes primarily from these public holdings, though more detailed information can be found in their report.
Earlier this week, I attended a webinar organized by Divest Ed entitled “Organizing for Abolition in the University: A Panel” which featured organizers from prison divestment campaigns at Harvard University, the University of Florida, University of Chicago, and John Hopkins University. One of the organizers recommended requesting a meeting with whoever manages finances at your college or university (CFO, CIO, etc.) and asking them these following questions:
- Where is the endowment invested?
- How much is invested in the PIC? (often expressed in percentage)
- Are the PIC investments direct, indirect, or both?
- Who manages the endowment? (Investiture, Cambridge Associates, etc.)
- What is the budget and breakdown for making up costs?
- What funds are you specifically invested in– exact name? (ex. Calvert Equity A, Goldman Sachs International Equity ESG Fund, etc.)
(Questions pulled from this fossil-fuel divestment financial literacy fact sheet from Divest Ed.)
Why organizing around divestment and abolition matters:
During the panel, the organizers, quoting Angela Davis and Mariame Kaba, spoke about how universities are deeply tied to the state and are microcosms of the surrounding world. Life in the university should mirror what we aspire towards in the surrounding world and can serve as an experimental ground for the change that we wish to prove is possible outside of the university setting. For example, one of the organizers explained that if they can organize a cop free Harvard, then it is much easier to envision a cop free Cambridge.
In fact, a large part of the argumentative force behind the divestment fight on college and university campuses stems from the values that these institutions claim to stand by. For example, a group of five Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign members, who are graduate students and donors, are suing Harvard for a variety of claims such as false advertising, as Harvard’s claimed anti-racist ideals are not reflected in their investment portfolio. The full details to their lawsuit and Harvard’s filings in response can be found on their website.
Divestment not only helps hold institutions accountable to their stated values and commitments, it also financially weakens the companies that were previously supported by their investments.
Concrete steps to begin organizing:
First, if you are at an institution where a divestment campaign already exists, seek it out. These organizations will have already done a lot of the leg work behind organizing and have begun to compile information and documents that complicate and challenge the narrative the university itself puts out about its investments. Since the institutional turnover rate is so high, these groups continually need new members to keep the movement alive. Additionally, if you can’t devote a large amount of time to organizing, these organizations may have a petition you are able to sign and share with friends.
If your school does not already have a divestment campaign, Divest Ed can help you start one. Though they primarily have done work on fossil fuel investments, they are now leveraging those resources to help with divestment from the PIC. To sign up to start a campaign or to arrange a call with Divest Ed staff use this form. They also have an extensive resource sheet on their website which includes links to resources on campaign strategy and recruitment techniques.
It could also be helpful to reach out to other divestment campaigns already on the ground at other colleges and universities. For example, during the panel, Amanda Chen from the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign mentioned that they have resources that they often send to people, such as an informative webinar. The Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign can be reached at harvardpdc@gmail.com. Students from Claremont McKenna, Vassar, and Georgetown have also started a coalition called the Campus Prison Divestment Campaign. Further information on divestment and the PIC can be found on their website and they encourage anyone interested in starting a campaign/joining the coalition to contact them at divestthecomplex@gmail.com.
Additionally, continue to learn and educate yourself. Divestment in the prison-industrial complex is not just a movement on college and universities but a movement that is both national and international. For example, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has a National Divestment Campaign and Freedom Thrive is also conducting a Prison Industry Divestment Campaign as a part of their larger #FreedomCities movement that aims to build multiracial power at the local level by redefining what safety and freedom mean for their communities.
The movement to divest from the PIC also exists in a larger context of abolition of the prison industrial complex. If you are looking to learn more about abolition, The People’s Response ATL has created a regularly updated Political Education Resource List.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions that I could add to this list of resources please let me know at emma.v.stapleton@vanderbilt.edu.
*** The original post has been edited to include information on the Campus Prison Divestment Campaign.
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