Feminist Lessons in the Politics and Practice of Prison Abolition

• In Event: The Legal & Justice Landscapes of Incarceration

Abstract

The undeniable allegations of state-sanctioned rapes of incarcerated women at FCI Dublin in 2022 and the retaliation and swift prison transfers mobilized a statewide movement in California against gender violence, male domination, and the carceral state. The movement mobilized calls for racial and gender justice, decarceration, and prison abolition. While activists' demands for justice and decarceration are not a new phenomenon, they sparked national discourse by the media and across prison walls than at any time since the “Free Joan Little” movement in 1974. While feminist scholars and organizers have produced an impressive body of work that theorizes and promotes abolition feminism, only a handful of projects examine how incarcerated women and marginalized genders practice abolition feminism and abolitionist feminist values. Drawing on the lens of abolition feminism and an intersectional lens grounded in women-of-color and queer centered critiques, this article explores how people in women’s prisons in California interpret their prison experiences and collective visioning for prison abolition. The anecdotal and narrative accounts in this article reveals insights into how carceral policies and practices impact the experiences of women and marginalized genders, as well as fuels their engagement in community-informed advocacy and transformative solidarity as acts of resistance.

Author

• Tamanika Ferguson, Wellesley College