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abolition

96 posts in ‘abolition’

A closer look

Against Abandonment

When the social safety net gets shredded, incarceration increases. We can’t just count on mutual aid; the most vulnerable among us need government benefits.

Katie Tastrom

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advocacy

The Right to Be Called Workers

Language of ‘trafficking’ and ‘slavery’ disempowers migrant sex workers while directing attention away from state violence.

Chanelle Gallant & Elene Lam

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In Depth

When Fire Is the Only Way Out

At a far-flung prison in Virginia, conditions are so inhumane that those imprisoned there are setting themselves ablaze in protest—and to assert their humanity.

Jennifer Black & Noel Hanrahan

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culture

Punishment TV

We are fighting to end carceral reality TV—including shows such as ‘60 Days In’—because no one should profit from punishment.

Vidal Guzman

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democracy & power

Abolition and the Presidency

The Trump administration will assail our movement. That doesn’t change the fact that it looks backward while we look forward.

Joseph Margulies

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Beyond Reform

No More Pretrial Punishment

In my many years as a public defender, I accepted the legal rationales for pretrial detention. But I can’t anymore.

Justine Olderman

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activism

A Radical Genealogy

A recent anthology offers an accessible political education in the long history of seeking to abolish U.S. prisons.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, Jennifer Black & Adam McGee

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recommendations

The Year in Books

A curated list of 2024 publications that moved us to continue working toward a world without mass incarceration.

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activism

Back to the Basics

At a time of political realignment, progressive movements need to get back to building relationships, across differences, and growing their base.

Kelly Hayes, Maya Schenwar, Andrew Crespo & Adam McGee

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Politics

The Terrain of Struggle

Leaving no one behind, abolitionists plan for a transformed future—even as we attempt to address pain points in the here and now.

Rachel Herzing

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books

Raising Abolitionists

A new anthology invites parents into the work of building a world without prisons.

Kim Wilson, Maya Schenwar & Bill Ayers

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abolition

Transformative Justice Is Global

A transnational approach to abolition brings a new appreciation for community—both broader and narrower than the nation-state—as the site for care, justice, and democratic self-governance.

Melanie Brazzell

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advocacy

Preparing for the Worst

Ahead of the election, immigrants' rights advocates are working hard to be ready, no matter who wins.

Silky Shah

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abolition

A Thousand Possibilities

Abolition requires the world-building work of imagining all the many life-affirming alternatives to incarceration.

Bill Ayers

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collective action

Making Labor Work

Today’s labor movements must see the carceral state not just as a related progressive battle, but as central to the struggle for workers’ rights.

Sandeep Dhaliwal

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law & policy

Breaking the Chains

Ending prison slavery and giving fair wages to incarcerated workers are necessary steps on the pathway to justice.

Tommaso Bardelli, Andrew Ross & Aiyuba Thomas

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excerpt

No Good Prison

An incarcerated writer and advocate in California implores: “Don’t waste my time trying to make it more comfortable for me in here.”

Paula Lehman-Ewing

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abolition

The Transformation of Justice

What does genuine safety look like? And what will it take to prioritize it rather than simply managing inequality and other injustices?

Philip V. McHarris

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Reflections

Growing Up Post-Ferguson

I was the same age as Michael Brown when he was killed. The uprising set me on the path to abolition.

Rachel Rood-Ojalvo

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Essay

The Ferguson Decade

A decade on, Ferguson remains central for those working toward a world free from the harms of policing and prisons.

Adam McGee, Andrew Crespo & Premal Dharia

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abolition

Community Is a Verb

Defund gives us a platform and pathway to reimagine a society with less police, more care, and services that meet the needs of all.

CalvinJohn Smiley

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Film review

Big-Screen Abolition

Films that imagine decarceral futures are a cultural antidote for the carceral messages and aesthetics so prevalent in popular media.

Michelle Brown

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Futures

Abolitionist Social Work

Social work must be anti-carceral, against oppression, and committed to ending the systems, structures, and ideologies that cause people harm.

The Network to Advance Abolitionist Social Work

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Policing

Safety Without Police

Even before the uprisings in Minneapolis, communities have been radically reimagining a world that doesn’t depend on policing.

Michelle Phelps

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organizing

A Safer, Healthier Boston

In seeking funding for non-carceral mental health crisis response, we're hoping to bring a small piece of our abolitionist horizon to our city.

Emy Takinami & Husain Rizvi

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Beyond Reform

Disability Justice Demands Abolition

When people need care, then the solution should be to get them care, not increase the risk of police violence.

Katie Tastrom

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abolition

For the People’s Health

Abolition and public health go hand in hand. Organizers are embracing both as they pursue decarceral projects that center everyone’s well-being.

Cristian Farias

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Futures

Abolition as Human Liberation

A hopeful, practical new book shows how abolitionist organizers today are building the world anew.

Rachel Herzing, Justin Piché & Maya Schenwar

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advocacy

Back to Appalachia

They were incarcerated in Eastern Kentucky, far from home. Now they’re free and back, hoping the region won’t build a new prison there.

Katie Myers

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In Depth

Sticking with the Sex

From sex work to sex offender registries, a queer politics requires that we end state practices of sex exceptionalism.

Joseph J. Fischel

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