‘At a moment in which the powers of state punishment are expanding through both familiar and newfound techniques, Envisioning Abolition and Abolitionist Voices make timely and thought-provoking interventions.’ Radical Philosophy

'Abolitionist Voices provides an excellent collection of thought-provoking and politically engaged arguments for abolitionism. Its breadth is impressive: from underpinnings of colonialism, slavery and political economy to the ideas of Kropotkin, Foucault and others.' Christopher Cunneen, University of Technology Sydney

Why have so many radical thinkers advocated for the abolition of prisons and punishment? And why have their ideas been so difficult to popularize or garner the political will for change? This book outlines several different approaches to penal abolitionism and showcases their calls for the ending of legal coercion, domination, and repression.

This exciting and innovative edited collection shows how abolitionist ideas have continued topicality and relevance in the present day and how they can collectively help with devising new ways of thinking about social problems, as well as suggesting alternatives to existing penal policies, practices and institutions.

Les mer

Why have so many radical thinkers advocated for the abolition of prisons and punishment and why have their ideas been so difficult to communicate and garner widespread support? This book outlines the long and nuanced history of penal abolitionism and shows how these ideas have continued topicality.

Les mer

Foreword by Johannes Feest

Preface

1. The Abolitionist Rhizome - David Gordon Scott

Part 1: Voices of the Oppressed

2. Kropotkin and the Anarchist Case for Penal Abolition - Ruth Kinna

3. Angela Davis and the Contributions and Contradictions of Abolition - Joy James

4. Phenomenology, Abolition and the Lived Experience of Incarceration - Lisa Guenther

Part 2: Abolitionist Ideas

5. Liberation and Reconciliation: The Christian Tradition and Prison Abolition - Hannah Bowman

6. The Daybreak of Abolition: The Overcoming of Punishment and Promotion of Therapy in Nietzsche’s Philosophy - Caius Brandão

7. Marxism and the Political Economy of Abolitionism - Jon Burnett

8. Foucault and Prison Abolition - Chloë Taylor

Part 3: The Scope of Oppression

9. The Slavery Industrial Complex - Viviane Saleh-Hanna

10. Abolition and the Colonial Carceral Archipelago - Thalia Anthony and Harry Blagg

11. Southerning Nonpunitive and Abolitionist Feminism - Valeria Vegh Weis

Part 4: Struggles for Liberation and Justice

12. Eco-Abolition: Policing Environmental Injustice - Nathan Stephens-Griffin and Andrea Brock

13. Abolitionist Activism in Post-Mass-Media Societies: Moral Panic and the Amplification of Abolitionist Voices - Michael Dellwing

14. Libertarian Socialism and the Struggle for Liberative Justice - David Gordon Scott

Les mer

This book provides a nuanced historical and theoretical understanding of the diversity of voices in penal abolitionism and makes connections to wider struggles for liberation and emancipation that have only been rarely touched upon in the existing literature.

Les mer