Abolitionist thought visualizes a world without prisons – or a radical reduction or transformation of prisons and punishment. This fascinating book explores the abolitionist ideas of key early socialists and anarchists, writing from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. It considers how these radical thinkers can provide insights into our present condition, both by highlighting the harms of punishment and by pointing to inspiring alternatives to current policy and practice.

By examining their calls for the ending of legal coercion, domination and repression, the book shows how the ideas of early socialists and anarchists can assist those engaging in emancipatory struggles against penal and social injustice today.

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Yes, you can access Envisioning Abolition by David Gordon Scott, Emma Bell, David Gordon Scott,Emma Bell in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Anarchism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Bristol University Press

Year

2025

eBook ISBN

9781529234794

Edition

Topic

Social Sciences

Subtopic

Anarchism

Index

Social Sciences

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors
Preface
1 Abolitionism in Red and Black
2 The Embryonic Abolitionist Ideas of William Godwin in the Late 18th Century
3 Robert Owen and the Owenites: Abolitionist Ideas in the Early British Socialist Movement
4 ‘Do What Is Right, and Let Come What May’: Tolstoy and Penal Abolition
5 Arthur St John: Tolstoyan Abolitionism in Practice
6 Edward Carpenter’s Realist Utopian and Contingent Abolitionism
7 William Morris’ Utopian Case for Prison Abolition
8 Beyond Sanction: Jean-Marie Guyau between Penal Abolition and Social Defence
9 Pyotr Kropotkin: Foundations of Anarchist Prison Abolition
10 Anarchism and the Abolition of the Criminal Justice System: The Struggle for the Discourse on Evolution and Social Order in Spain
11 Fear or Freedom? Errico Malatesta on Crime and Punishment
12 Envisioning a New Society: Pietro Gori and the Problem of Criminal Justice
13 ‘Cemeteries of the Living Dead’: Eugene V. Debs, Prison Abolitionist
14 Altgeld’s Protégé: Clarence Darrow and the Abolition of Prisons and Capital Punishment in the United States
15 Emma Goldman: The Making of a Prison Abolitionist
16 Seeing through the Game: Alexander Berkman and the Modern Prison Abolition Movement
Index

About this book

Frequently asked questions

Information

Table of contents