Abolition. Feminism. Now.

As a politics and as a practice, abolitionism has increasingly shaped our political moment, amplified through the worldwide protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a uniformed police officer. It is at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement, in its demands for police defunding and demilitarisation, and a halt to prison construction.

As this book shows, abolitionism and feminism stand shoulder-to-shoulder in fighting a common cause: the end of the carceral state, with its key role in perpetuating violence, both public and private, in prisons, in police forces, and in people's homes. Abolitionist theories and practices are at their most compelling when they are feminist; and a feminism that is also abolitionist is the most inclusive and persuasive version of feminism for these times.

This extraordinary book makes the most compelling case I've ever seen for the indivisibility of feminism and abolition . . . Combining decades of analytical brilliance and organizational experience, the authors offer a genealogy of the movements that brought us here, lessons learned, battles won and lost, and the ongoing collective struggle to build a thoroughly revolutionary vision and practice
Robin D. G. Kelley

ANGELA Y. DAVIS is Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz. An activist, writer and lecturer, her work focuses on prisons, police, abolition and the related intersections of race, gender and class.

GINA DENT is associate professor of feminist studies, history of consciousness, and legal studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the editor of Black Popular Culture, and lectures and writes on African diaspora literary and cultural studies, postcolonial theory, and critical area studies.

ERICA MEINERS is Professor of Education and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. She is the author of several books including For the Children? Protecting Innocence in a Carceral State.

BETH E. RICHIE is Professor of Criminology, Law and Justice and Black Studies, Sociology, Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her most recent book is Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence and America's Prison Nation.

Powerful, wise and well-crafted . . . filled with insight and provocation . . . this book is as capacious and demanding as the abolitionist feminism it calls for
Sara Ahmed
A powerful and empowering manifesto for a better world. Bringing together history, theory, practice and hope, this book gives us what we need to build flourishing communities in challenging times
Martha Spurrier
A howl of despair at the penal system . . . reveals [Angela Davis'] tireless eloquence and rage
Guardian
Abolition. Feminism. Now. is a demand in every way. It pushes readers not to accept simple stories but to embrace complexity and new ways of thinking
Boston Review
Davis's politics are expressed not merely in what she writes, but how she writes. Although there are four authors, the book is written in one voice. Its form reflects her belief in collective action
Guardian