Policing Black Lives

State Violence in Canada from Slavery to Present

Robyn Maynard

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Duke University Press
14 October 2025

Social discrimination; Ethnic studies; Black & Asian studies; Crime & criminology; Political activism

Robyn Maynard’s bestselling Policing Black Lives offers a comprehensive account of the state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization, and punishment of Black lives in Canada. In this revised and expanded edition, Maynard exposes Canada’s veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance to document how half a century of police reforms have expanded the scope and scale of policing and undermined Black freedom struggles in the wake of global Black uprisings in 2020. She traces the afterlives of slavery across multiple institutions and illuminates the state’s role in perpetuating colonial dispossession, racial profiling, police killings, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labor practices, and the school-to-prison pipeline. At the same time, Maynard foregrounds the ubiquity of Black resistance while offering new insights on how to build liveable futures without policing. Advancing a compelling vision for making policing obsolete and building new forms of safety, Policing Black Lives is an essential text that will guide and inspire activists, students, scholars, and all those working toward Black futures beyond surveillance and confinement.

By: Robyn Maynard
Imprint: Duke University Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Edition: Revised and Expanded
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 445g
ISBN: 9781478033073
ISBN 10: 147803307X
Pages: 472
Publication Date: 14 October 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Undergraduate , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Robyn Maynard is Assistant Professor of Black Feminisms in Canada at the University of Toronto and coauthor of Rehearsals for Living.

Reviews for Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to Present

“Robyn Maynard’s meticulously researched and compelling analysis of state violence challenges prevailing narratives of Canadian multiculturalism and inclusion by examining how structures of racism and ideologies of gender are complexly anchored in global histories of colonization and slavery. This book should be read not only by those who have a specific interest in Canadian histories and social justice movements but by anyone interested in the abolitionist and revolutionary potential of the Black Lives Matters movement more broadly.” - Angela Y. Davis “We are so fortunate to have this new edition! Robyn Maynard’s clear, compelling book is a must read for organizations, households, and anyone who fights for social justice.” - Ruth Wilson Gilmore