Colin Dayan is Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University. Her books include The Law Is a White Dog, The Story of Cruel and Unusual, and Haiti, History, and the Gods.
We rely on readers to keep our website open to all. Help sustain a public space for collective reasoning and imagination—make a tax-deductible donation today.
Colin Dayan is Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University. Her books include The Law Is a White Dog, The Story of Cruel and Unusual, and Haiti, History, and the Gods.
Long before Joe Arpaio became a household name, he was busy reinventing chain gangs, criminalizing detainees, and persecuting anyone who crossed his path. A series of exclusive photos from 1995 takes us back.
Undocumented immigrants face horrible conditions in U.S. detention, with little legal recourse.
On the cruelties the South doles out to animals, children, and black folks.
Jonathan Katz has written the book about the Haitian earthquake. How does he contextualize the tragedy in the country's history?
Talking about Gaza is like talking about God. We face the ineffable. We cannot talk about what we see.
I went back to Haiti on August 15, a year and a half after the earthquake. The place where I had lived on and off since the summer of 1970 was unrecognizable. But the politics were familiar.
A political and literary forum, independent and nonprofit since 1975. Registered 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more about our mission
Just in time for the holidays, get any three print issues of Boston Review for just $35 – that’s 40% off the cover price!
Before December 9, mix and match any three issues for one low price using code 3FOR35.
Just in time for the holidays, get any three print issues of Boston Review for just $35 – that’s 40% off the cover price!
Before December 9, mix and match any three issues for one low price using code 3FOR35.
For nearly 50 years, Boston Review has been a home for collective reasoning and imagination on behalf of a more just world.
But our future is never guaranteed. As a small, independent nonprofit, we have no endowment or single funder. We rely on contributions from readers like you to sustain our work.
If you appreciate what we publish and want to help ensure a future for the great writing and constructive debate that appears in our pages, please make a tax-deductible donation today.
That’s what sociologist Alondra Nelson says of Boston Review. Independent and nonprofit, we believe in the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.
That’s why there are no paywalls on our website, but we can’t do it without the support of our readers. Please make a tax-deductible donation to help us create a more inclusive and egalitarian public sphere—open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.