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Why is the rate of incarceration in Louisiana so high? How do we critique the way prisons are part of infrastructural solutions to anthropocenic instabilities? As Angela Davis writes, “prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.” One way of imagining and building a vision of an anti-carceral future is practiced in the Solitary Gardens project here in New Orleans: 

The Solitary Gardens are constructed from the byproducts of sugarcane, cotton, tobacco and indigo- the largest chattel slave crops- which we grow on-site, exposing the illusion that slavery was abolished in the United States. The Solitary Gardens utilize the tools of prison abolition, permaculture, contemplative practices, and transformative justice to facilitate exchanges between persons subjected to solitary confinement and volunteer proxies on the “outside.” The beds are “gardened” by prisoners, known as Solitary Gardeners, through written exchanges, growing calendars and design templates. As the garden beds mature, the prison architecture is overpowered by plant life, proving that nature—like hope, love, and imagination—will ultimately triumph over the harm humans impose on ourselves and on the planet.

"Nature" here is constructed in a very particularistic way: as a redemptive force to harness in opposition to the wider oppressive system the architecture of a solitary confinement cell is a part of. It takes a lot of intellectual and political work to construct a counter-hegemonic nature, in other words. Gardeners in this setting strive toward a cultivation of relations antithetical to the isolationist, anti-collective sociality prisons (and in general, a society in which prisons are a permanent feature of crisis resolution) foster.

My interest in NOLA anthropocenics pivots on water, and particularly the ways in which capitalist regimes of value and waste specify, appropriate, and/or externalize forms of water. My research is concerned with water crises more generally, and geographically situated in Flint, Michigan. I thought I could best illustrate these interests with a sampling of photographs from a summer visit to NOLA back in 2017. At the time, four major confederate monuments around the city had just been taken down. For supplemental reading, I'm including an essay from political theorist Adolph Reed Jr. (who grew up in NOLA) that meditates on the long anti-racist struggle that led to this possibility, and flags the wider set of interventions that are urgently required to abolish the landscape of white supremacy. 

Flooded street after heavy rains due to failures of city pumping infrastructure.

A headline from the same week in the local press.

Some statues are gone but other monuments remain (this one is annotated).

A Starbucks in Lakeview remembering Katrina--the line signifies the height of the water at the time.

Reading:

Adolph Reed Jr., “Monumental Rubbish” https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/25/monumental-rubbish-statues-torn-down-what-next-new-orleans

P.S. In case the photos don't show up in the post I'm attaching them in a PDF document as well! 

Not that I could find. 

1. "Part of the great appeal of humanitarianism is that it exemplifies moral certainty: it purports to save lives and alleviate suffering. How can one argue with this kind of moral imperative?"
2. "But more significantly, in addition to revealing the reproduction of inequality, the fissures rendered visible by the entry of gender-based violence into humanitarian missions force an engagement with new forms of the political. Humanitarianism’s mission has expanded so that it now occupies a dominant place in the global political arena – whether humanitarians asked for this or not."
3. "My argument is that while humanitarianism, in conjunction with certain feminist movements, may work to medicalise and depoliticise gender-based violence, the politics of gender actually creep back in undercover, revealing problems at the heart of the humanitarian mission – problems that undermine the very idea of a ‘humanitarian space’ critical to humanitarian action, that is, a space that tries to temporarily hold the political at bay."
4. "That is, if one errs on the side of the duty to bear witness, this is considered ‘political’ and threatens the neutrality which gives access to crisis zones. It is a fine line to tread."

1. I first did further research on Paul Farmer through the PIH website, as he is a cofounder. Through there I also looked at their story and mission to further my understanding of the organization. 
2. I looked into the Baltimore study further and read some anecdotes and stories about AIDS patients living in the Baltimore area and the circumstances under which they contracted HIV. The concept "survival sex" was used to describe situational circumstance that forced men and women into prostitution. These positions are tied to structural violence, as noted by Farmer in the article.
3. I read excerpts from one of Farmers other articles referenced in this one entitled, "The major infectious diseases in the world - to treat or not to treat?" This paper was studied among 6 countries and looked at the cure rates among patients with Tb and highlights the need of equal access to care around the world. 

This film shows live footage of interactions in the hospital as well as voice over narrations that highlight the mood and stress of the situation. They give some statistics, but the main point of this film is to show the stories of some patients and the doctors and staff to highlight their message. It has an emotional appeal in the sense that viewers can sympathize with and feel frustrated for all parties involved - not just the patients.

The authors researched previoud research papers, articles, or speeches to gather data that was used to create a discussion.