Brian Pitman

Brian Pitman

Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, Clemson University
Chapter Member: South Carolina SSN
Areas of Expertise:

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About Brian

Pitman's research focuses on policing and penal abolition along with the racist disparities in the criminal legal system. He is committed to the abolishment of the criminal legal system. Pitman has written for public outlets such as TruthOut, The Conversation, the Bangor Daily News, and the Robesonian. Pitman's peer-reviewed articles can be found in Critical Criminology, Race and Justice, and Convergence.

Contributions

In the News

"Why Bangor’s Affordable Housing Policies Won’t Address Homelessness," Brian Pitman (with Brenna Jones), Housing/Opinion/Policy, Shelterforce, March 16, 2023.
"Scholars Strategy Network: The Racist Roots of Gun Control," Brian Pitman, Central Maine, July 5, 2022.
"Penobscot County Should Build Housing, Not Expand Its Jail," Brian Pitman, Bangor Daily News, November 29, 2021.
Brian Pitman quoted on policing and the criminal legal system reflect this country’s tortured racial history, "The Price of Black Life " Michigan Chronicle, October 6, 2020.
"Editorial Misfired on Civil War, the Confederate History ," Brian Pitman, The Robesonian, December 8, 2019.
"Something in the Water: West Virginians New Fight for Clean Water," Brian Pitman (with Dr. Stephen T. Young), Ovec, August 2, 2019.
"Stripping Social Programs Leads to Lower Life Expectancy," Brian Pitman (with Stephen T. Young), Truthout, February 6, 2019.
"Land of Extraction: How the Carceral Institution Settled in Central Appalachia," Brian Pitman (with Stephen T. Young), Prisons & Policing, Truthout, September 2, 2018.
"Speak Up Against GOP Tax Plan ," Brian Pitman, The Robesonian, November 28, 2017.

Publications

"Total Extraction: Exploitative Behaviors of the Carceral Apparatus Towards Carceral Officers in Central Appalachia" (with Stephen T. Young). Springer Link (2020).

Explores the nature of prison-building and the resulting exploitation of individuals working in these carceral institutions in Central Appalachia. Argues that prison-building is a mechanism of economic and social control within the region, and we focus our analysis on the poor working conditions, impoverished pay, and the general toxicity of the land on which these prisons are situated.

" Freedom in the wilderness: A study of a Darknet space" (with Roderick Graham). Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies 26, no. 3 (2018): 593-619.

Findings show that Freenet fosters a singular distribution of content, with a high ratio of blogs (or flogs), child pornography, empty links, and Web 1.0 websites that archive information.

"Social Media Users’ Interpretations of the Sandra Bland Arrest Video" (with Asha M. Ralph, Jocelyn Camacho, and Elizabeth Monk-Turner). Race and Justice 9, no. 4 (2017): 479-497.

 Explores how social media users understand the case of Sandra Bland. Specifically, we focus on where they cast blame and how they explain that blame.