Justice as Failure: Abolitionist Theory and Praxis

In this course, we will explore the links between prison abolition, feminist praxis, and the political organizing of queer and trans people of color. In particular, we will ask what it means to re-envision justice in a world without prisons and what the role of feminism, especially as practiced by queer and trans people of color, is in this kind of collective project. We will focus on developing a solid grounding in critical prison studies as an expansive, interdisciplinary field by reading foundational texts in the study of prisons. We'll take up analytic frameworks developed by prison abolitionists, paying special attention to the role Black and Asian American studies have played in shaping contemporary abolitionism. Our focus will especially be on the activist and academic work by and about QTPOC prison abolitionists in the United States. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; AS WI I; AS SC; FA HUM; AR HUM; BU BA

Justice as Failure: Abolitionist Theory and Praxis

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 302B

Section 01