I am excited to announce the release of States of Incarceration: Rebellion, Reform, and America's Punishment System, which I co-authored with Zhandarka Kurti, out today on the Field Notes Series of Reaktion Books.
You can purchase the book here.
Critical praise includes:
"This
book, perhaps the most synthetic and ambitious look at the George Floyd
Rebellion, is an attempt to view the events of 2020 from the perspective
of complete social transformation—which is to say, revolution." ― Tobi Haslett, The Brooklyn Rail
“Bold and brilliant, States of Incarceration is essential reading for those who labor to counter repression and movement capture. The authors offer fierce, fluid analyses of police/state violence and critique progressives' contradictions. The analyses of US history, contemporary uprisings, and current conflicts enlighten and strengthen the work of freedom communities. Share and debate this book.” ― Joy James, author of In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love, and editor of Imprisoned Intellectuals and The New Abolitionists
“Deeply researched and tightly argued, States of Incarceration offers a nuanced history of the US carceral state and the politics of its abolition, deftly demonstrating why the latter emerged as the political horizon of the 2020 George Floyd Rebellion. Breaking with those committed to burying the inspiration of this insurrectionary moment as well as those who have lost hope in abolitionism’s potential in the wake of the rebellion’s demise, this book makes a clear and convincing case for holding firm to abolitionism as a dynamic revolutionary politic.” ― Toussaint Losier, co-author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement
“Abolition is a brick. Will it be used to build the courthouses and carceral institutions of the future, or will it be thrown through their windows? States of Incarceration makes a powerful case for the latter, poring over the blueprints of our carceral present while imagining what might be born from its smoldering ashes." ― Geo Maher, author of A World Without Police
“A manifesto written by and for activists. A call to deeply informed activism. A defense and critique of revolutionary violence. A polemic to be taken very seriously. An invitation to leap into an imagined future without carceral states.” ― Tony Platt, University of California, Berkeley, author of Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States
“Bold and brilliant, States of Incarceration is essential reading for those who labor to counter repression and movement capture. The authors offer fierce, fluid analyses of police/state violence and critique progressives' contradictions. The analyses of US history, contemporary uprisings, and current conflicts enlighten and strengthen the work of freedom communities. Share and debate this book.” ― Joy James, author of In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love, and editor of Imprisoned Intellectuals and The New Abolitionists
“Deeply researched and tightly argued, States of Incarceration offers a nuanced history of the US carceral state and the politics of its abolition, deftly demonstrating why the latter emerged as the political horizon of the 2020 George Floyd Rebellion. Breaking with those committed to burying the inspiration of this insurrectionary moment as well as those who have lost hope in abolitionism’s potential in the wake of the rebellion’s demise, this book makes a clear and convincing case for holding firm to abolitionism as a dynamic revolutionary politic.” ― Toussaint Losier, co-author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement
“Abolition is a brick. Will it be used to build the courthouses and carceral institutions of the future, or will it be thrown through their windows? States of Incarceration makes a powerful case for the latter, poring over the blueprints of our carceral present while imagining what might be born from its smoldering ashes." ― Geo Maher, author of A World Without Police
“A manifesto written by and for activists. A call to deeply informed activism. A defense and critique of revolutionary violence. A polemic to be taken very seriously. An invitation to leap into an imagined future without carceral states.” ― Tony Platt, University of California, Berkeley, author of Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States