Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis5/18/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The racial aspects of the analysis will largely be familiar to anyone who has thought seriously about prisons before - the over-representation of people of color, the historical similarities between prison and plantation, and so on. The discussion is thus shifted away from questions about crime and punishment and toward concerns for social justice and human rights. By describing prison as a site where these systems of inequality intersect, she casts light on the nature and function of the prison system but by describing the prison in these terms she also shows us something about the society that relies so heavily on incarceration. Race and gender are in the fore of the analysis, and Davis runs the argument in both directions. More importantly, she forces us to consider radical change, and clears the ground for an agenda based not on reforms of the current system, but on a vision of a society where no one is caged. She explains the economics of the punishment industry and deconstructs the ideology supporting it. ![]() IN HER LATEST book, Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis lays out the facts about incarceration, citing the current numbers, outlining the history of the prison system, and identifying the race, class and gender dynamics underpinning the prison boom. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003, 128 pp., $8.95 paperback Caging Race & Gender | Solidarity Caging Race & Gender - Kristian Williams ![]()
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