THE MATRIX OF THE AMERICAN POLICE STATE: DOMINATION, FRAGMENTATION AND DEHUMANIZATION

Abstract

Why does police violence persist despite widespread public recognition of harm and repeated calls for reform? This dissertation argues that the persistence of police violence is not simply the result of failed policy or individual misconduct. Instead, it reflects a broader system of power that operates across multiple, connected domains. Drawing on Patricia Hill Collins’ Matrix of Domination, this project shows how policing is produced, enforced, justified, and experienced through structural arrangements, institutional practices, public narratives, and everyday interactions.The dissertation makes three central contributions. First, it offers a new framework for understanding policing as a multi-domain system of power rather than a set of isolated problems. Second, it demonstrates how fragmentation in public discourse, especially around terms like reform and accountability, prevents meaningful collective action even when there appears to be widespread agreement. Third, it shows how policing is experienced differently across social positions, producing patterned forms of harm, legitimacy, and emotional response that help sustain the system over time. The chapters build this argument step by step. Chapter 1 examines the structural domain, showing how American federalism and legal design distribute authority while diffusing accountability, creating durable conditions for police power. Chapter 2 focuses on the disciplinary domain through a comparative analysis of two police departments, demonstrating how organizational practices protect police authority even under reform and oversight. Chapter 3 outlines the methodological approach, using in-depth interviews to access how policing is understood and experienced across different groups. Chapter 4 analyzes the hegemonic domain, showing how shared language masks deep disagreement and produces a fragmented understanding of reform. Chapter 5 turns to the interpersonal domain, examining how policing is lived through fear, grief, defensiveness, and moral injury. Chapter 6 brings these domains together to show how they operate as an integrated system, explaining why reform efforts are often absorbed and why more fundamental change remains difficult. By shifting the focus from isolated failures to the full system that produces them, this dissertation provides a clearer explanation for the persistence of police violence and offers a framework for understanding the limits of reform.