mambabasa

Whether the twenty-first century will be the most radical of times or the most reactionary—or will simply lapse into a gray era of dismal mediocrity—will depend overwhelmingly upon the kind of social movement and program that social radicals create out of the theoretical, organizational, and political wealth that has accumulated during the past two centuries of the revolutionary era. The direction we select, from among several intersecting roads of human development, may well determine the future of our species for centuries to come. As long as this irrational society endangers us with nuclear and biological weapons, we cannot ignore the possibility that the entire human enterprise may come to a devastating end. Given the exquisitely elaborate technical plans that the military-industrial complex has devised, the self-extermination of the human species must be included in the futuristic scenarios that, at the turn of the millennium, the mass media are projecting—the end of a human future as such.

The revolutionary process can be conceived as a chain of ever-deepening negations of capitalist production, of capital production, of capital itself.

The strike or general(ized) strike is the first level of negation of capital production we will deal with. … Capitalist production is replaced only by no production at all; an abstract nothingness of production. This cannot go on (or society will die). This negation must in its turn be negated, either by a return to production under the old conditions and under the old private capitalist or state capitalist management — the non-revolutionary return — or by a return to production under a new management: workers’ management — the revolutionary return. But a return to production there must be.

The next stage of negation which negates the mere work stoppage but which still carries within it the seed of revolutionary possibility, is the workplace occupation. This is the negation of the first negation: the workers stop staying home. … But still the work stoppage, the strike, continues. The old production has been negated, but not in a way which replaces it with a new production. The determinate negation of capital-production, the negation of capital-production as such has not been produced, but only its abstract negation; non-production.

But it is here that basically two alternative modes of this re-negation present themselves. On the one hand, there is the return to normal production and to the old production-relations and therefore to all the conditions which necessitated the strike in the first place, and so also to the necessity of striking again, and of breaking off the strike again, and again, and again ad infinitum — the lived myth of Sisyphus; the futility of living in a vicious circle. Or, something new. A way of breaking out of the vicious circle: to restart production under their own control; “under new management” — workers’ management — the power of workers’ councils.

The operation of the factories, offices, social services, etc. under workers’ and communities’ management leads inevitably to their conscious (as well as unconscious) modification. With practice, this becomes a systematic modification in congruence with a new pattern of social relations, that is, in accord with the constantly more generalized and constantly more richly rediscovered coherence of the new social totality.

Relying on state violence to curb domestic violence only ends up harming the most marginalized women.

While its adherents would likely reject the descriptor, carceral feminism describes an approach that sees increased policing, prosecution, and imprisonment as the primary solution to violence against women.

Casting policing and prisons as the solution to domestic violence both justifies increases to police and prison budgets and diverts attention from the cuts to programs that enable survivors to escape, such as shelters, public housing, and welfare. And finally, positioning police and prisons as the principal antidote discourages seeking other responses, including community interventions and long-term organizing.

By relying solely on a criminalized response, carceral feminism fails to address these social and economic inequities, let alone advocate for policies that ensure women are not economically dependent on abusive partners. Carceral feminism fails to address the myriad forms of violence faced by women, including police violence and mass incarceration. It fails to address factors that exacerbate abuse, such as male entitlement, economic inequality, the lack of safe and affordable housing, and the absence of other resources.

Carceral feminism abets the growth of the state’s worst functions, while obscuring the shrinking of its best. At the same time, it conveniently ignores the anti-violence efforts and organizing by those who have always known that criminalized responses pose further threats rather than promises of safety.

Many prison reformists yearn for the end of imprisonment but find themselves confronted by questions which seem difficult to answer:

• What do we do about those who pose “a danger” to society? Don’t we have to solve that problem before we can advocate the abolition of prisons?

• Is it possible to work for short term prison reforms without being coopted?

• If we devote our energies to abolition, are we not abandoning prisoners to intolerable conditions?

• How can we work for needed prison reforms which require structural change within the society, before a new social order comes about?

As some of these important questions are addressed, we will discover that many reforms can be achieved in an abolition context. The primary issue for abolitionists is not always one of reform over/against abolition. There are “surface reforms” which legitimize or strengthen the prison system, and there are “abolishing-type reforms” which gradually diminish its power and function. Realizing the differences requires some radical shifts in our perceptions, lest we fall into the trap which has plagued earlier generations. Our goal is to replace prison, not improve it.

Over the years, Critical Resistance has generated numerous organizing resources to resist policing. As an abolitionist organization, Critical Resistance supports abolitionist reforms to dismantle the systems of policing and works to create viable alternatives in our communities. From defunding strategies to building alternatives to community safety and defense, each anti-policing resource Critical Resistance has made bolsters the grassroots work of our chapters’ projects and campaigns, and materializes CR’s theory of change: dismantle, change, build. We hope our allies and movements partners find these resources useful and are used to amplify wins against policing, for prison industrial complex abolition around the world.

A list of fun infographics on various abolitionist topics

The three flavors of Abolition we have encountered are as follows: (1) autonomist (2) insurrectionary (3) and procedural:

1. Autonomist Abolition entails a strategy of fugitivity or constant refusal of the instruments of capture and their “catch all solutions” while, at the same time, building hyperlocal (though dispersed in undetectable networks) infrastructures for sustaining bodies (people, collectives, swarms) in resistance.

2. Insurrectionary Abolition entails a direct confrontation and antagonizing of the “big P” Police and its constant attempts to maintain order, while simultaneously attempting to liberate occupied territories.

3. Procedural Abolition entails winning and defending non-reformist reforms enshrined in policies that diminish the reach of the carceral state while simultaneously redirecting collective capacities towards social infrastructures that do not reinstate carceral instruments of capture and control.

“But who would keep us safe if there were no police?” A better question to ask is: “Does the police actually keep us safe right now?” Or perhaps: “Why is it that safety and managing harm is monopolized by an inherently violent apparatus?” The fact of the matter is that the police do not deter harm; they react to it in a violent way, by inflicting physical violence or caging someone away.

The Prisoners Union (Serikat Tahanan) was officially assembled on July 17 2023, started by the initiatives of six inmates from six correctional institutions in Indonesia. Now, Serikat Tahanan represents eleven detainees ranging from arsoning cases, vandalism for incitement to riots, and marijuana and other types of drug use.

We have been writing, or at least learning to write, our own experiences and thoughts inside the prison. We want to publish these writings but, of course, we don’t have money. Indonesia's corrupt prison system provides inadequate food rations and forces prisoners to pay for it themselves. All these time we have been living off solidarity from comrades outside prison as it's almost impossible for us to work. Lack of funds and bribe-ridden prison conditions worsen our lives and hamper our writing project. We will use the proceeds from book sales to run the program that has been determined and run by the prisoners themselves.

Therefore we ask the international anti-authoritarian activists, anarchists, anti-fascists and abolitionist networks to stand in solidarity in our efforts to publish our writings.

Here's the fundraiser link: https://www.firefund.net/serikattahananwritings

The Prisoners Union (Serikat Tahanan) was officially assembled on July 17 2023, started by the initiatives of six inmates from six correctional institutions in Indonesia. Now, Serikat Tahanan represents eleven detainees ranging from arsoning cases, vandalism for incitement to riots, and marijuana and other types of drug use.

We have been writing, or at least learning to write, our own experiences and thoughts inside the prison. We want to publish these writings but, of course, we don’t have money. Indonesia's corrupt prison system provides inadequate food rations and forces prisoners to pay for it themselves. All these time we have been living off solidarity from comrades outside prison as it's almost impossible for us to work. Lack of funds and bribe-ridden prison conditions worsen our lives and hamper our writing project. We will use the proceeds from book sales to run the program that has been determined and run by the prisoners themselves.

Therefore we ask the international anti-authoritarian activists, anarchists, anti-fascists and abolitionist networks to stand in solidarity in our efforts to publish our writings.

Here's the fundraiser link: https://www.firefund.net/serikattahananwritings

The Prisoners Union (Serikat Tahanan) was officially assembled on July 17 2023, started by the initiatives of six inmates from six correctional institutions in Indonesia. Now, Serikat Tahanan represents eleven detainees ranging from arsoning cases, vandalism for incitement to riots, and marijuana and other types of drug use.

We have been writing, or at least learning to write, our own experiences and thoughts inside the prison. We want to publish these writings but, of course, we don’t have money. Indonesia's corrupt prison system provides inadequate food rations and forces prisoners to pay for it themselves. All these time we have been living off solidarity from comrades outside prison as it's almost impossible for us to work. Lack of funds and bribe-ridden prison conditions worsen our lives and hamper our writing project. We will use the proceeds from book sales to run the program that has been determined and run by the prisoners themselves.

Therefore we ask the international anti-authoritarian activists, anarchists, anti-fascists and abolitionist networks to stand in solidarity in our efforts to publish our writings.

Here's the fundraiser link: https://www.firefund.net/serikattahananwritings