Are Prisons Obsolete?
by Angela Y. Davis
This book examines the history of the prison-industrial complex and the roles that racism and sexism play in mass incarceration and criminalization.
“The prison therefore functions ideologically as an abstract site into which undesirables are deposited, relieving us of the responsibility of thinking about the real issues afflicting those communities from which prisoners are drawn in such disproportionate numbers.”
MY TAKEAWAYS
As a society, we must question our assumptions about prisons and their perceived inevitability, while imagining—and planning for—a future without them.
Prisons are past the point of reform - prison is a reform in itself that over time has proven its inability to address societal issues, while amplifying harm and violence within.
The links between slavery and the proliferation of US prisons can provide a basis for understanding the racism entrenched in our current system; race also plays a key role in “constructing presumptions of criminality”.
Prisons create an inescapable environment of violence and sexual assault for both women and men.
Women trapped in the system are often treated as “worse” than their male counterparts based on the idea that masculine criminality is the “norm”.
The media often perpetuates the concept that crime is out of control, reinforcing the false notion that more police and prisons are needed to “lock up” the seemingly endless stream of violent criminals. This occurs even as crime rates steadily decrease year after year.
While often deemed unrealistic or utopian in nature, a future without police or prisons is both possible and urgently needed.