Throughout my research in Auburn, I noticed that there were two main ways that the people of Auburn talk about the prison: it is either an afterthought with little to no connection to individuals, or it is an entity that Auburn would not be able to function without. These contradicting perceptions of the prison were oftentimes articulated by the same person, sometimes mere moments apart.
Analyzing the juxtaposition that exists between the different ways that people describe the prison to me, proved to be very telling of the town's relationship to the prison; while they do not see themselves as being directly connected to or impacted by the presence of the prison, they do feel like the prison itself provides for the town in meaningful ways, most being related to the economy. The perceived economic benefits of the prison ("you know, it's the second largest employer in the city!") seem to be at the forefront of people's discourses surrounding the institution, and this largely contributes to the town's acceptance of the prison. In order to think more critically about the ways in which the prison is in/visible at the same time, I sifted through my field notes and located instances in which people spoke about the prison in ways that highlighted its importance to the town. These mentions of the significance of the prison showcase the impact that the prison has on the people of Auburn, despite their claims that it doesn't play a large role in their everyday lives.
Below are quotes pulled from various conversations I've had while interacting with people in Auburn*:
1.
“It’s a positive thing for us”
“People appreciate it”
In both of these instances, I couldn't help but wonder who this notion of "us" is referring to. Surely the released prisoners that [supposedly] stay in Auburn after they finish serving their time don't view the prison in this positive light. Does this suggest that this population is not viewed as being a part of Auburn? If so, what is the criteria that one has to meet in order to qualify as part of the "us"? How do Auburnians define themselves as a people, and how might these definitions be racialized and class-based? One of my research group partners focused heavily on the area of town known as "O-Block" or Orchard Street that was repeatedly depicted by his interlocutors as being the "bad" part of town. Do the people that live there count as the "us"? As a person of color, these statements seem to be racially and socioeconomically coded, serving as a reinforcement to the Us vs. Them mentality that people in Auburn have towards affiliates of the prison. The prison may be "positive" to the "Us" (whatever that means in this context) but at what cost to the "Them"?
2.
“It had to be somewhere, might as well be here”
“Its a part of our history. It’s a fact of life”
People seem to accept the prison as a constant, something that has always been a part of the town and always will be. What strikes me about these two comments is the nonchalant nature with which folks speak about the prison. The casual comment that the prison "had to be somewhere" sounded more like the way one might talk about a grocery store or office space, not a maximum security prison. The unconcerned way that people in Auburn talk about the prison is very different from my own perceptions of it, perhaps because I didn't grow up in the area. Interestingly, it was another common reoccurrence to talk about the prison as a historical space. People frequently mentioned to me that the prison was 200 years old and played an important role in historical prison reform movements. However, as can be noticed in the data collected on our "How Auburn Presents Itself" page, the prison is left out of most, if not all, of the paper promotional/informational materials that we collected, even the ones dedicated specifically to the history of Auburn. Is this an aspect of the town's history of which people are not proud? My initial belief was that this was the case, but in my individual conversations with people, the historical nature of the prison is brought up as a redeeming quality. This rendering of the prison as a/historical in different contexts is another interesting aspect to consider; how is the prison both a historical and contemporary space? In what ways does this impact the way that people conceptualize the prison as being related to themselves as individuals and as people of Auburn?
3.
“Auburn wouldn’t be what it is today without the prison”
“We’d be lost without it”
Because the prison has been a part of Auburn for so long, it seems as though the people of Auburn can't conceptualize what the town would look like without it. As previously mentioned, the prison is seen as a valuable and necessary economic support system for the town, and on multiple occasions people have sited this institution as being critical to Auburn's success as a small town. In one of my interviews, the man with whom I spoke spent the majority of the interview describing to me all of the negative things that the prison introduced to the town -- increased crime, more unemployment, drugs, homeless people, etc. -- but when asked if he wished the prison wasn't in Auburn, he offered an emphatic "no". Like many others, he saw the prison as being crucial to creating the Auburn that he lives in today, and the economic benefits of the prison outweighed all else. In this way the prison is viewed as an integral part of the town's framework, a foundation on which the rest of Auburn could be built. Balancing the enormous weight that is put on the prison with its absence from people's everyday thoughts presents the in/visible dichotomy surrounding the prison that has fueled much of my research.
*The names of the people from which these quotes are taken have been excluded to maintain their confidentiality. More important than the actual people that shared these quotes is the fact that these positive associations to the prison seem to be widespread throughout the town.
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