This course explores essential social theories from scholars who have grappled with forms of subjugation such as enslavement, colonialism, and incarceration. These thinkers, writing from what might be termed a southern perspective whether from the Global South, the U.S. plantation system or internal colony, or broader subordinated contexts offer radical insights into existing structures of power. Often overlooked in traditional theory, the voices of les damns (to use the words of Frantz Fanon) provide critical perspectives on the state, economy, race, and gender, guiding us in understanding our unequal present and envisioning potential paths to liberation.