Morning Comrades and welcome back to the second of two patreon-only dispatches this week. You all know the drill, sign up, put food on our table, get more brain food from me. It is, most humbly, appreciated.
Continuing on with this week red thread from Pride and the Monopoly of Violence, we will be looking at Abolitionism, both as a fact, theory, praxis and specifically, from a Marxist perspective as a direct result of our reality. Similarly to the majority of you I’d imagine I initially was taught about abolitionism as a political reality in the context of the U.S. and the anti-slavery movement. Rightly so, as this is where this story starts, long before there even was a country called the U.S. - this is not what we are doing today though, no matter how interesting that history. Today I wanted to share an introduction of abolitionism as a philosophy and direct action as it grew out of the anti-prison movement, again, predominately in the U.S. and mostly thanks to the ever relevant and brilliant Dr. Angela Davis and then specifically, how it correlates to Marxism. Strap in and enjoy!
"Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings."
- Angela Davis, "Are Prisons Obsolete?"
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