Are Prisons Obsolete? *(ePub)
With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. For generations of Americans, the abolition of slavery was sheerest illusion. Similarly,the entrenched system of racial segregation seemed to last forever, and generations lived in the midst of the practice, with few predicting its passage from custom. The brutal, exploitative (dare one say lucrative?) convict-lease system that succeeded formal slavery reaped millions to southern jurisdictions (and untold miseries for tens of thousands of men, and women). Few predicted its passing from the American penal landscape. Davis expertly argues how social movements transformed these social, political and cultural institutions, and made such practices untenable. In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for "decarceration", and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole. Read more
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Why Must Read Are Prisons Obsolete??
I believe that this is a very important book. In it, Angela Davis puts forth an extremely compelling case for the abolition of the modern prison system. It was a complete surprise to me to learn that the modern prison system (being locked up as the final punishment) is a fairly recent phenomenon that was considered to be very progressive and humane compared to the former shaming, corporal, and capital punishments that were meted out hundreds of years ago. This book focuses a great deal on the intersection of African American history with prison history, which adds a whole extra layer of horror to the way the system works. I'd be very interested to see how the numbers and statistics have changed (or not) in the past 15 years since it was published, but the book is definitely still relevant and informative. It's also easy to read, not dry or dull at all. Very interesting and flows well which makes the reading enjoyable even while the subject matter is often difficult. As a Quaker, prison reform is an important topic in my social circles, but I had never seriously heard anyone put forth the idea that prisons should somehow be done away with. I finished this book with a new perspective with which I wish more people would become familiar. I recommend this book to anyone who's interested or involved in prison reform, African American history, and/or social justice issues in general.
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