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Is abolition possible under capitalism?
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this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Abolition of police and prisons
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Abolish is to flourish! Against the prison industrial complex and for transformative justice.
See Critical Resistance's definitions below:
The Prison Industrial Complex
The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.
Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. There are many ways this power is collected and maintained through the PIC, including creating mass media images that keep alive stereotypes of people of color, poor people, queer people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities as criminal, delinquent, or deviant. This power is also maintained by earning huge profits for private companies that deal with prisons and police forces; helping earn political gains for "tough on crime" politicians; increasing the influence of prison guard and police unions; and eliminating social and political dissent by oppressed communities that make demands for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.
Abolition
PIC abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.
From where we are now, sometimes we can't really imagine what abolition is going to look like. Abolition isn't just about getting rid of buildings full of cages. It's also about undoing the society we live in because the PIC both feeds on and maintains oppression and inequalities through punishment, violence, and controls millions of people. Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad strategy. An abolitionist vision means that we must build models today that can represent how we want to live in the future. It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different. It means living this vision in our daily lives.
Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.
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When it comes to building an army for self-defense, I've been impressed by the system described in Homage to Catalonia where 'ideologues' were responsible for political and military discipline, who as opposed to Soviet commissars, had no authority to punish or imprison. A combination of a chaplain and nco, their job was to maintain morale and observe that humanitarian and anarchist principles were observed even at the point of contact with the enemy.
It should be noted in the early days of the Makhnovshchina and the Spanish Civil War, conscription wasn't necessary. The YPJ is another all-volunteer military formation. The Spanish anarchists whose lightning mobilization stopped the coup and made up the ranks of most of the early military fronts were all volunteers, joining as affinity groups or mobilized from syndicate organizations.
Another example of how abolition can support revolution, one of the first adventures of the Iron Column during the Spanish Civil war was the liberation of San Miguel de los Reyes prison and burning its records. Many of the prisoners released joined the force. Several key militants in the fight were survivors of incarceration, such as Buenaventura Durruti.
As the Fascists were re-enforced by Hitler and Mussolini, and every government but Stalin's abandoned the Republican forces, the situation on the ground changed. Conscription and the replacement of Ideologues with Commissars happened at the same time, one could argue that neither institution could exist without the other.
While Nestor Makhno's insurgent army was fueled by the social revolution it enabled, its tactical innovations that lead to early successes and Makhno's force of character were unique features that also drove enlistment. In its later days it is true that they began pressing men into service. Available now in hindsight, a common feature as both armies were falling back on conscription was that the revolution they were fighting for was already a lost cause.
Mass mobilization for self-defense is not incompatible with revolution and abolition, and does not necessarily imply systems of coercion.