WGS Director of Undergraduate Studies Caroline Light’s forthcoming book, Stand Your Ground: America’s Love Affair with Deadly Self-Defense, will be released in February 2017 by Beacon Press.

Professor Light’s new work confronts the racial and gendered logics of the recent spike in do-it-yourself (DIY) security citizenship, from stand-your-ground laws and open-carry licenses, to the resurgence of predominantly white, male, armed militias. Her book reveals how past appeals to the sanctity of "a [white] man's castle" continue to haunt contemporary notions of security and threat and exposes how the nation's obsession with lethal self-defense rests on centuries of violence against the most vulnerable. 

Please join WGS in congratulating Professor Light, and stay tuned for further announcements as we approach the release of her book!