Research Catalog

Title

Are prisons obsolete? / Angela Y. Davis.

Author

Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

Publication

• New York : Seven Stories Press, [2003]
• ©2003

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

Description

127 pages; 18 cm.

Summary

• Amid rising public concern about the proliferation and privatization of prisons, and their promise of enormous profits, world-renowned author and activist Angela Y. Davis argues for the abolition of the prison system as the dominant way of responding to America's social ills. "In thinking about the possible obsolescence of the prison," Davis writes, "we should ask how it is that so many people could end up in prison without major debates regarding the efficacy of incarceration." Whereas Reagan-era politicians with "tough on crime" stances argued that imprisonment and longer sentences would keep communities free of crime, history has shown that the practice of mass incarceration during that period has had little or no effect on official crime rates: in fact, larger prison populations led not to safer communities but to even larger prison populations. As we make our way into the twenty-first century-two hundred years after the invention of the penitentiary-the question of prison abolition has acquired an unprecedented urgency. Backed by growing numbers of prisons and prisoners, Davis analyzes these institutions in the U.S., arguing that the very future of democracy depends on our ability to develop radical theories and practices that make it possible to plan and fight for a world beyond the prison industrial complex.
• Reagan-era politicians with "tough on crime" stances argued that imprisonment and longer sentences would keep communities free of crime. However, history has shown that the practice of mass incarceration during that period has had little or no effect on official crime rates. As we make our way into the twenty-first century-two hundred years after the invention of the penitentiary-the question of prison abolition has acquired an unprecedented urgency. Backed by growing numbers of prisons and prisoners, the author analyzes these institutions in the U.S., arguing that the very future of democracy depends on our ability to develop radical theories and practices that make it possible to plan and fight for a world beyond the prison industrial complex.

Series Statement

An open media book

Uniform Title

Open Media book

Subject

• Prisons > United States
• Prison reform > United States
• Criminals > Rehabilitation > United States
• Alternatives to imprisonment > United States
• Prison abolition movements > United States
• Criminals
• Prisons
• Réhabilitation > États-Unis
• Emprisonnement > Alternative > États-Unis
• Prisons > États-Unis
• Prisons > Réforme > États-Unis
• Abolitionnisme pénal > États-Unis
• Prisons
• LAW / Criminal Law / Sentencing
• POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights
• POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy
• Prison reform
• Prison abolition movements
• Alternatives to imprisonment
• Criminals > Rehabilitation
• Strafvollzug
• United States
• USA

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-126).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Prison reform or prison abolition? -- Slavery, civil rights, and abolitionist perspectives toward prison -- Imprisonment and reform -- How gender structures the prison system -- Prison industrial complex -- Abolitionist alternatives -- Resources -- Notes -- About the author.

ISBN

• 1583225811
• 9781583225813

LCCN

2006281923

OCLC

• 52832083
• SCSB-10472460

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library