The Idea of Prison Abolition

Tommie Shelby

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English

Princeton University Press
21 February 2023

Criminal justice law

Series: Carl G. Hempel Lecture Series

An incisive and sympathetic examination of the case for ending the practice of imprisonment

Despite its omnipresence and long history, imprisonment is a deeply troubling practice. In the United States and elsewhere, prison conditions are inhumane, prisoners are treated without dignity, and sentences are extremely harsh. Mass incarceration and its devastating impact on black communities have been widely condemned as neoslavery or “the new Jim Crow.” Can the practice of imprisonment be reformed, or does justice require it to be ended altogether? In The Idea of Prison Abolition, Tommie Shelby examines the abolitionist case against prisons and its formidable challenge to would-be prison reformers.

Philosophers have long theorized punishment and its justifications, but they haven’t paid enough attention to incarceration or its related problems in societies structured by racial and economic injustice. Taking up this urgent topic, Shelby argues that prisons, once reformed and under the right circumstances, can be legitimate and effective tools of crime control. Yet he draws on insights from black radicals and leading prison abolitionists, especially Angela Davis, to argue that we should dramatically decrease imprisonment and think beyond bars when responding to the problem of crime.

While a world without prisons might be utopian, The Idea of Prison Abolition makes the case that we can make meaningful progress toward this ideal by abolishing the structural injustices that too often lead to crime and its harmful consequences.

By: Tommie Shelby
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 133mm,
ISBN: 9780691229751
ISBN 10: 0691229759
Series: Carl G. Hempel Lecture Series
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 21 February 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Tommie Shelby is the Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the author of Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform and We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity.

Reviews for The Idea of Prison Abolition

"""A Seminary Co-Op Notable Book of the Year"" ""Winner of the Easton Award, Foundations of Political Thought section of the American Political Science Association"" ""What could we have instead of prisons? Is all crime caused by social injustice or would there still be murder and theft in a fair society? How else could we protect the public if not with jails? Could there be such thing as a non-dehumanising prison? The Idea of Prison Abolition is a philosopher’s cool headed take on these hot political questions [and] makes a good intellectual case against abolitionism.""---Andy West, The Philosopher"