INTRO TO PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX ABOLITION
Prison industrial complex abolition is “a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment." - Critical Resistance
Abolition requires us examine and do away with the ways in which all systems and institutions replicate methods of surveillance and punishment as a means of social control. Resources in this section cover fundamental concepts of abolition and histories of what it looks like in practice. Page updated 3.23.22.
Selected Resources
- Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) Abolition 101: A Vision to End Prisons, Policing & Surveillance, Project Nia
- Cops Don't Stop Violence, Interrupting Criminalization
- Democratic Leadership's Predictable Scapegoating of 'Defund the Police’ featuring Derecka Purnell, Citations Needed Podcast
- 'The Public Health Case for Prison Abolition During COVID-19, Greenlining
- We Must Not Exchange One Cage for Another — Let’s Abolish All Forms of Prisons, Truthout
- Abolishing Immigration Prisons, Boston University Law Review
- Moving at The Speed of Trust: Disability Justice and Transformative Justice Webinar, Barnard Center for Research on Women
- Transformative Justice, TransformHarm.org
- The Case for Prison Abolition: Ruth Wilson Gilmore on COVID-19, Racial Capitalism & Decarceration, Democracy Now!
Discussion Questions
- Think about a time when you felt safe. Think about where you were, what was happening, who was around you... In the situation you're imagining, were there police there? What makes you or your community feel safe? Who do you turn to in an emergency?
- What have been your personal experiences of policing? What roles have police played in your life? How do you think your experiences impact your perception of the criminal legal system?
- In the article “We Must Not Exchange One Cage for Another,” the authors of Prison by Any Other Name share stories of how expansions of the criminal legal system are marketed as reforms of the same system. In particular, they note how non-police professions are still enlisted with the task of policing, like social work and medicine. Why is the abolition of policing just as important as the abolition of the police?
- Many efforts around criminal legal system reform rely on an ultimately meaningless distinction of violent vs. non-violence offenders: ‘We must reduce the number of people who committed non-violent crimes in prisons’. Based on the reading, how does this false binary serve to legitimize prisons as a solution to violence?
Who To Follow
- Critical Resistance @C_Resistance
- Southerners on New Ground @ignitekindred
- Center for Political Education @Center4PE
- Abolitionist Futures @ReclaimJustice
- Interrupting Criminalization @interruptcrim
- LA CAN @LACANetwork
- Beyond Prisons Podcast @Beyond_Prison
- Black and Pink @BLACKandPINKorg
- Believers Bail Out @BelieverBailOut
- Youth First @NoKidsInPrison
For Further Learning
TAKE ACTION
Learning from and building with people who have been most impacted by the prison industrial complex is crucial when taking action in service of abolition.
1Correspond with people who are currently imprisoned in jails, prisons, and detention centers through letter writing.
Learn more about the importance of connecting with people on the inside and how to become a penpal:
2Look up and connect with your local bail fund, cop/courtwatch project, and Black and Pink Chapter!
About TowardsAbolition.com
TowardsAbolition.com is a learning and action guide developed for people
involved in the public health field including students, researchers, and practitioners.
Contact Us
towardsabolitioninpublichealth@gmail.com
Last updated May 2021