Other Resources
Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal justice conversation.
Podcasts
Beyond Prisons is a podcast that explores incarceration from an abolitionist perspective. We amplify the voices of people directly impacted by the system and seek to tell stories that push us to imagine and work toward a world without prisons. Launched in 2017 by Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein, Beyond Prisons is an educational and political resource for those new to abolition and those long engaged in movement work.
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About This Guide
In this LibGuide, you will find various resources that provide an overview of the contemporary prison abolition movement in the United States, explore its important aspects from the movement's perspective, and discuss how it is distinguished from prison reform. As an engaged community member in New York City—whether still a student, professional, worker, LGBTQIA+, migrant, immigrant, experienced activist, or just getting started—you will get to know the foundations of prison abolition today, as rooted in abolishing the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration and analyzing through the lens of race, class, and gender. The guide includes works and media created by the movement's key players, what the movement's advocacy entails, and how you can get involved and connected with prison abolition organizations and its allies in New York.
"This movement was something so extraordinary, not only because it saved my life—and that was a major accomplishment—but also because it demonstrated that change was possible as a result of organized, mass pressure."
- Angela Y. Davis, Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture
What is Prison Abolition?
Critical Resistance, What is Abolition?
- What is Prison Abolition?The Nation: "The movement that is trying to think beyond prisons as a tool to solve society’s problems."
- Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind By Rachel KushnerNew York Times: "In three decades of advocating for prison abolition, the activist and scholar has helped transform how people think about criminal justice."
- What Abolitionists DoJacobin: "Prison abolitionists aren't naive dreamers. They're organizing for concrete reforms, animated by a radical critique of state violence."
Key Books on Prison Abolition
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by ISBN: 1608465640Publication Date: 2016-02-09In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches, world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement.
Instead of Prisons: A Handbook For Abolitionists by ISBN: 0976707012Publication Date: 2005-12-01From discussions on the range of voices that comprise the movement for prison abolition to demystification of the myths surrounding the justification of imprisonment and practical steps toward breaking free from relying on imprisonment, Instead Of Prisons offers organizrs and activists a primer for strategy and actin in the fight to build a world without prisons. A reprint of this 1976 classic, with a new introduction from Critical Resistance.
Abolition Now! by ISBN: 1904859968Publication Date: 2008-11-01Over seven million people live under the control of US prison and parole systems. The vast majority of them are people of colour or youth. Between 2000 and 2007, Congress added 454 new offences to the criminal code. In comparison, Blair added 3000 new laws during his leadership. The UK prison population is similarly skewed in terms of race and class. For a decade, Critical Resistance has organised to abolish the reliance on imprisonment, policing and surveillance. Reflecting on key themes of Dismantle, Change and Build, this book celebrates their bold strategies and work.
Leaders in the Movement Defining Prison Abolition
A Conversation Between Michelle Alexander & Angela Davis in NYC (10/20/17)
Angela Davis in conversation with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! (12/14/19)
Angela Davis in conversation with George Stroumboulopoulos from George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (02/16/11)
"The New Jim Crow" - Author Michelle Alexander, George E. Kent Lecture 2013
Understanding Prison Abolition Versus Prison Reform
- Critical Resistance: Abolitionist Responses to Jail Expansion and ReformCritical Resistance outlines the abolitionist response to jail expansion and jail reform. The resource lists issues that abolitionists do not back regarding jail expansion and reform, as well as issues that abolitionists do support.
- From Prison Reformist to AbolitionistArtist, writer, and educator Devyn Springer narrates his own personal transformation from a prison reformist to abolitionist. He draws from his childhood experiences, educational development, and key moments like the death of Mike Brown that formulated his conviction to become an abolitionist.
- How the Push to Close Rikers Went from No Jails to New Jails"Activists say a once-radical campaign has been co-opted." This article traces how grassroots organizations in New York City deeply differed in their vision and approach to addressing the prison-industrial complex. One calls for reform, and the other, to dismantle it completely and the root causes of the prison-industrial complex and mass incarceration.
Angela Davis on the Fallacy of Prison Reform