How to Abolish Prisons: Lessons from the Movement Against Imprisonment

by Rachel Herzing, Justin Piché, Mariame Kaba (Preface)

An incisive guide to abolitionist strategy, and a love letter to the movement that made this moment possible.

Critics of abolition sometimes castigate the movement for its utopianism, but in How to Abolish Prisons, long-time organizers Rachel Herzing and Justin Piché reveal a movement that has made the struggle for abolition as real as the institutions they are fighting against.

Drawing on extensive interviews with abolitionist crews all over North America, Herzing and Piché provide a collective reconstruction of what the grassroots movement to abolish prisons actually is, what initiatives it has launched, how it organizes itself, and how its protagonists build the day-to-day practice of politics. Readers sit in on the Winnipeg rideshares of Bar None and the meetings of the Chicago Community Bail Fund as they assess the utility of politicized mutual aid. They follow the campaigns and coalitions of Critical Resistance in Oakland and San Francisco and Survived and Punished in New York City, and learn about the prisoner correspondence projects that keep activists behind bars and outside them in constant coordination.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Social Justice

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2024

Reviews

[Brian Bean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn’t tell you how to abolish prisons. Perhaps a better title could be “what abolitionists do.” In that case this book is good, incredibly clear survey of the current practical, and vitally important work that prison abolitionists are doing around the country to provide immediate relief and restrict the expansion of the carceral system. I did think that with its pretty explicit aim to outline the “immediate and practical difference in people’s lives” and to depict abolitionist organizing as providing “tangible” victories there is something a little lost. The book gestures toward the “greater political project”, “longer-term abolitionist objectives” and need to “transform the conditions in which harm can take place” these are left with little description of what the actual connection between the immediate organizing and the greater political horizon is beyond building a healthy, large movement. On the latter the book does offer insights that are incredibly valuable on navigating tensions and contradictions and disagreements that can arise in organizing but doesn’t really lay out to what end. The format of the book also is firmly built on the words and experience of people doing the work and that adds a realness and freshness to its depiction of abolitionist organizing that on that basis alone warrants this being read. But building a strong movement does not in itself abolish the carceral system, and that question—how to abolish prisons, the title of the book is left unanswered.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 — Great insight into the inner workings of abolitionist organizing in the U.S. and Canada. Some of it was repetitive, but overall I appreciated the attention to detail in describing strategies and real/potential obstacles. The authors did a great job communicating the nuances of sticking to abolitionist values over reformist ones without being purist or disregarding the value that improving conditions for incarcerated people — without giving more money/validity/support to prisons/jails — can be, while also highlighting the importance of not settling. It’s a tricky balance and I think it’s important that they gave it a lot of attention.

“To reject transformative political visions as untenable simply because they imagine what is beyond our current reality is to fundamentally misunderstand how social change takes place. Further, such perspective is willfully ignorant of history of freedom struggles, from the abolition of chattel slavery to the fall of apartheid in South Africa.”

[anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

arc received from the publisher via edelweiss.

"how to abolish prisons" as in how activists & organisers are and have been doing it for decades, not so much the only correct, step-by-step guide to achieving the goal of prison industrial complex abolition. the authors themselves call it "a love letter to the people and organizations that put themselves to work over the long term in organizing campaigns and political projects that put abolitionist politics into practice", which encapsulates is perfectly.

written in very simple language, divided into clear-cut chapters, full of direct quotes from people involved in the work first-hand, and heavily based on stories of specific actions & victories. that makes the book very accessible, which of course should always be the goal.

[Ivana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book because I want to learn about the prison abolition movement. I just wish there had been a chapter on the logistical pieces. But, it has motivated me to go dig into this movement and learn more about it!

[Jackson Peven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointingly I found this book a "how" that doesn't seem to have any interest in engaging with prison reformers or anyone else not 100% sold on the need to abolish prisons. I understanding it's meant more as a "manual" for those in the cause, and it does provide resources/references for those looking to do the same, but there were no real counter-points to obvious questions. ("If we ABOLISH prisons, what do we do with the truly dangerous?")

The American (and overall Western) Prison Industrial Complex is a cancer that needs to be treated, but I do not see a world where abolition is the first step on that path, and I believe that focus on abolition above all else is a losing strategy.

Reform of our current prison system, starting with releasing/reclassifying a majority of those currently behind bar and stopping the flow of new undeserving prisoners is (in my opinion) what the first step should be.

[Gene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offered significant insights into the practicalities and logistics of prison abolition, revealing areas I had not considered. It also encouraged me to reflect on my beliefs and address any contradictions or tensions I found, especially concerning reform vs abolitionist agendas. In doing so, it made prison abolition more attainable and not some utopian ideal.

I would’ve appreciated more statistics and evidence to back up some of the claims the authors make throughout this book like “the vast majority of concerns they are worried prison abolition will ignore, such as unaccountable violence, are caused by imprisonment rather than resolved by it” (p. 105). Additionally, some points felt repetitive and by Chapter 7, I wasn’t as engaged.

Also, I’m donating my copy of this book to the Laufey book exchange so if you receive it, hi!

[Jeremy C-M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure— I volunteer with one of the orgs interviewed in the book.

This book is the best available documentation of what the prison abolition movement is actually doing. As many of these reviews already noted, it doesn't make good on the title except in that limited sense. It disclaims being a how-to book pretty early, so they're being a bit cute with the title. It's more of a “lay of the land” — a series of get-to-know-you interviews with abolitionist groups across Canada & the US. For me this was a tremendously valuable resource for thinking through what we're doing in our org, putting us in a wider movement context, and seeing how other orgs are working through some of the challenges and thorny questions we all face. I recommend the book if you're interested in “what is” prison abolition.

[Erikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so excited to e-meet and chat with these authors in a few days! I work in youth prison abolition and greatly enjoyed how this book summed up the key points of abolition and how organizers and the underappreciated of society are the ones truly doing the work. Anyone who believes that prison is not the answer should read this, but anyone who believes it is should read it even closer. Prisons bring nothing but harm. We need community services that meet people where they are and help rehabilitate them into better people. This is especially true for children in prisons. This idea is anathema in most of the world but severely overused here. We need to fix it.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic and very important read about how grassroots movements are trying to abolish prisons and change the system so people don't re-offend. For such a short book, there are a lot of interesting stats and research about whether or not prisons actually work in North America and if they can reform people when they leave (the evidence is kind of damning...). It's a perspective I think a lot of us haven't thought long and hard about, which makes it a must-read if you're interested in any kind of system reform or police reform.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book covers several different grassroots organizations and common tactics used in active abolitionist campaigns, as well as some reformist vs abolitionist dialogues. It was looking more for abolitionist theory and something more substantial instead, but the writing is clear and short, which is the best quality in a book that has let you down.

[Luis Velasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light on abolitionist theory. Strong focus on strategies + stories for reimagining justice without reliance on punitive systems. I recommend reading Until We Reckon by Danielle Sered beforehand; it provides a great foundation that complements this read and creates a nice transition between the two works.

[Damian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rating this book three stars because the authors are doing "the Lord's work". A very important subject that anyone on the Left should familiarize themselves about. However, the authors really need a good editor.

[Raven McKnight]

this, to me, feels like a missing link between "ok, i'm on board, i think prisons probably shouldn't exist" and understanding what it looks like, concretely, to be an abolitionist/do the work of abolition. i thought it was an accessible, worthwhile read if this is something you're curious about.

[Maddy Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

this got my brain churning…

so much to learn still but a wonderful introduction to the abolition movement & very much helped solidify some of my opinions on the topic! pumped to learn more

[aly]

it has good information but i did not like the way it was written :/

[Monica Keel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and attainable examples of prison abolition in the US & Canada.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conclusion is the best chapter of transformative justice writing I've read

[Jennifer]

informative!

[Jung · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4 stars] An overview and introduction to organizing to abolish the prison industrial complex (PIC), told through case studies of groups and organizations in the US and Canada. I think a more apt title could be “How We Organized Toward PIC Abolition” since it focuses primarily on retrospective lessons and insights rather than providing a guide or how-to for new organizers; this isn’t to downplay the usefulness or excellent research but to manage readers’ expectations. Since I was familiar and had worked with or alongside nearly all of the featured US groups, I enjoyed the additional insights that Canadian inclusion provided. Recommended for those new to learning about the PIC as a system and network beyond the sole targets of policing or prisons, organizers interested in learning more about the conceptual distinctions between “PIC abolition” and “abolition democracy”, and anyone curious about grassroots lessons and learning to integrate into your own work.

Publication Info: Haymarket Books, April 2024
Goodreads Challenge 2024: 35/48
Nonfiction Reading Challenge: about health (defined broadly)