‘Globalizing’ Penal Abolition in Western Contexts: A Comparative Analysis Between Britain and the United States

• In Event: Abolition: Practices, Lessons, and New Worlds

Abstract

It has been acknowledged that abolitionist thinking developed in relation to e to chattel slavery and the prolonged racial subjugation of Black Americans in the United States (Alexander, 2010; Davis, 2003; Haley, 2016). While England and Wales, too, has contended with its own history of slavery and imperialism, critiques have developed how British criminology has not addressed nor conceptualized race robustly (Parmar, 2017; Phillips et al., 2020). These concerns are fundamental to abolitionist thinking, which suffers from a dearth of attention in the British context. This paper considers the extent to which the same abolitionist principles can apply within different geopolitical contexts, developing a comparative analysis between England and Wales and the United States. Noting that the history and culture of both countries have influenced their criminal legal systems, this paper will consider the similarities and differences of the carceral logics in both contexts, asking to what extent, or in what ways, can abolition be a universal ideology? In sum, this paper considers the benefits and challenges of ‘globalizing’ penal abolition, particularly in Western contexts navigating the legacies of imperialism and settler colonialism.

Author

• Kavya Padmanabhan, Rice University