Back to All Events

Abolitionist Seminar on Police and Prisons By Any Other Name

  • Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center 210 South 45th Street Philadelphia, PA, 19104 United States (map)

Making Worlds Seminar: Abolitionist Alternatives to Police and Prisons By Any Other Name

Join Victoria Law for a community discussion on abolitionist alternatives to police and prison, and how we can shift narratives beyond reforms. We will explore histories and examples of police and prison narratives that use reforms to extend their powers to punish, and to subject more and more people to their control.

Victoria is author and co-author of two recent books that we will be using as the basis of our discussion:  Prisons Make Us Safer: And 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration and Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms, which critically examines proposed “alternatives” to incarceration and explores creative and far-reaching solutions to truly end mass incarceration.

Please note attendance is limited. Advance Registration Required. Please do so here! We encourage participants to come prepared to engage in the conversation and offer your questions and/or own experience with organizing around policing, prisons, and community safety.

Victoria Law is a freelance journalist who focuses on the intersections of incarceration, gender and resistance. In addition to Prison By Any Other Name, cowritten with Maya Schenwar, Victoria is also the author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women and regularly covers prison issues for Truthout and other outlets. Her latest book is Prisons Make Us Safer: And 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration. 

* * * 

IN-PERSON EVENT

Please note, out of concern for everyone’s well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, we require proof of vaccination for entry to all in-person events. Attendees are asked to wear masks at all times. Advance registration via eventbrite is required for all events, so we can plan for attendance and gather safely. 

Event registrations will be honored until 15 mins after start time of the event; afterwards, availability will be on a first-come basis. 

LIVESTREAMING

We will also offer a livestream recording of our events, graciously hosted by Common Notions Press on their YouTube channel. Feel free to subscribe to that channel and spread the word!

Click here for the livestream. 

The livestream typically starts 15 mins after the listed start-time of the event.

Note: there are ample opportunities to receive a free COVID-19 test, vaccine, or booster in most neighborhoods, at walk-in clinics or by appointment. All of the COVID-19 vaccines are free. They are available to anyone in the United States. You do not need to provide identification to receive a vaccine. Visit phila.gov for latest info and please support the work of the Black Doctors’ COVID Consortium.