Author: Claire H.

Illegal (Informal) Property Use in Detroit: Squatters, Scrappers, and More…

~ Claire H.

  My book “Urban Decline and the Rise of Property Informality in Detroit,” is under contract with University of California Press. This book is a qualitative study which uses the lens of informality borrowed from its rich history in scholarship on the global south, to study de jure illegal uses of land, houses and buildings in Detroit, … Continue reading Illegal (Informal) Property Use in Detroit: Squatters, Scrappers, and More…

Settler Colonialism: Gentrification, Incarceration, and Environmental Injustice

~ Claire H.

Increasingly, scholars across various disciplines acknowledge the ways that forms of colonialism continue to shape inequalities today. In this co-authored book project, we use a binocular colonial lens - drawing on internal colonization theories and settler colonial theories - to unearth the way that a common logic of erasure under-girds gentrification, incarceration, and environmental injustice(s). … Continue reading Settler Colonialism: Gentrification, Incarceration, and Environmental Injustice

Everyday Resistance Inside: Informal Education and Self-Cultivation

~ Claire H.

Art by Yusef Qualls-El, incarcerated artist at Macomb Correctional Facility. This new project analyzes testimony gathered from incarcerated contributors to the Incarcerated Archive - an online archive of poetry, writing, and art by incarcerated people from prisons across Michigan. Despite rhetorical commitments to "rehabilitation," the criminal justice system offers few opportunities for education or outlets … Continue reading Everyday Resistance Inside: Informal Education and Self-Cultivation