When We Say Jump: Review of Crowd Control

Emily Hall Under Review:Claire Grossman, Juliana Spahr, and Stephanie Young. Crowd Control: The Racial Ordering of Literary Reward. Columbia University Press, October 27, 2026. Claire Grossman, Juliana Spahr, and Stephanie Young’s sobering monograph, Crowd Control: The Racial Ordering of Literary Reward, argues that since the early twentieth century, white philanthropists have compelled African American writers to temper their anger about systemic oppression. As these authors note, philanthropists in the United States, particularly those tied to corporations, have an outsize role in funding the arts, given the paltry government support for writers. Because these philanthropists prioritize social stability, they financially reward works that eschew radical beliefs about injustice. While Crowd Control primarily uses critical race theory to make its arguments, it also draws from Marxist, cultural, and reception studies. Its thoughtful organization makes these complicated interventions…