Kristian Williams, "Policing the Progressive City: Portland, Oregon, from Settlement to Uprising" (AK Press, 2026)

About this episode

Kristian Williams discusses his book on police reform in Portland, exploring the city's history and activism against police brutality.

Kristian Williams, longtime activist and writer, joins Michael Stauch to discuss his new book Policing the Progressive City: Portland, Oregon, from Settlement to Uprising" (AK Press, 2026) about police reform in Portland. Billed as perhaps the nation’s most “progressive” city, Williams explores how “law and order” in Portland has been shaped for over two hundred years by business interests, political climbers, and social campaigners — as well as its history of mass resistance to police brutality. Highlights include: The contrast between image and reality in Portland’s history of policing; Portland’s role as an experimental site of police reform in the 20th century; When community policing arrived in Portland and how it shaped the city’s progressive image; How the city’s history of activism against both police brutality and fascism influenced events during the George Floyd Summer in 2020. Guest: Kristian Williams has been writing about and organizing against the police since the mid 1990s. He is the author of seven books, including Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, and lives in Portland, Oregon. Host: Michael Stauch is an associate professor of history at the…

People in this episode

Host: Michael Stauch

Guest: Kristian Williams

Topics covered

• police reform
• activism
• Portland history
• social justice
• community policing
• police brutality

Keywords

• policing
• Portland
• activism
• police reform
• social campaigners
• George Floyd Summer
• community policing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AK Press

Books & works: Policing the Progressive City: Portland, Oregon, from Settlement to Uprising, Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, Wildcat of the Streets: Detroit in the Age of Community Policing

Places: Portland, Oregon

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