Humanizing and Relational Approaches to Advocacy and Abolitionist Praxis in the Southwest

• In Event: The Logic of "Care" and Abolition

Abstract

While public and academic attention to mass incarceration in the U.S has increased substantially in the last few decades, there is still limited work interrogating how people on the outside support those impacted by incarceration. Thus, in this study I ask, "What approaches do advocates employ and practice while supporting people who are incarcerated or otherwise legal-system impacted?" and "How do advocates understand their work in support of people who are incarcerated?" Through qualitative in-depth interviews with 15 advocates (organizers, lawyers, and journalists), I find that their approaches to advocacy are fundamentally relational. Taking a critical feminist approach, I use adrienne maree brown’s "emergent strategies" and Andrea Ritchie’s "fractal abolition" frames to understand meanings and approaches that advocates assign their work. In the end, I make the claim that these advocates are engaging in an abolitionist praxis, through their relational and humanizing everyday practices and interaction with those most impacted by carceral violence. This work provides a concrete example of abolitionist theorizing and expands on literature in the field of social movements (framing and networks). This study may further shine light on advocacy dynamics and approaches in other movement spaces, specifically those focused on the prison.

Author

• Libby Vigil, University of New Mexico