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A review by novella42
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
5.0
A powerful read, and a perspective shift I had never thought to question before. I'm glad I had the author-read audiobook, spending five hours listening to the incomparable Angela Davis was well worth the time.
"What would it mean to imagine a system in which punishment is not allowed to become the source of corporate profit? How can we imagine a society in which race and class are not primary determinants of punishment? Or one in which punishment itself is no longer the central concern in the making of justice?
"An abolitionist approach that seeks to answer questions such as these would require us to imagine a constellation of alternative strategies and institutions, with the ultimate aim of removing the prison from the social and ideological landscapes of our society."
"What would it mean to imagine a system in which punishment is not allowed to become the source of corporate profit? How can we imagine a society in which race and class are not primary determinants of punishment? Or one in which punishment itself is no longer the central concern in the making of justice?
"An abolitionist approach that seeks to answer questions such as these would require us to imagine a constellation of alternative strategies and institutions, with the ultimate aim of removing the prison from the social and ideological landscapes of our society."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Slavery, Death, Deportation, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, and Murder