Faculty Book Talk with Matthew Clair
Stanford’s American Studies Program presents a talk by Matthew Clair, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stanford, on his award-winning book:
Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court (Princeton University Press, 2018)
The number of Americans arrested, brought to court, and incarcerated has skyrocketed in recent decades. Criminal defendants come from all races and economic walks of life, but they experience punishment in vastly different ways. Privilege and Punishment examines how racial and class inequalities are embedded in the attorney-client relationship, providing a devastating portrait of inequality and injustice within and beyond the criminal courts.
"In this lively book, Matthew Clair compellingly demonstrates how some defendants gain advantages in the criminal justice system and others lose out. Privilege and Punishment is an original work that provides fresh insights into how class and race alter life chances…—Annette Lareau, author of Unequal Childhoods
"Matthew Clair has written a timely and salient book that describes in intricate detail how the attorney-client relationship between lawyer and defendant reproduces race- and class-based disparities in a criminal court."—The Journal of Criminal Justice and Law
Attendance for Stanford faculty, students, and staff only
RSVP required to accurately plan for lunch