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A very basic misconception about reform versus abolition is that it's a matter of incrementalism versus haste. Reform doesn't move us forward more slowly, it reinforces the violence and sets us back.
This is the point Foucault makes regarding prison reform, which Angela Davis cites in Are Prisons Obsolete?
"Prison ‘reform’ is virtually contemporary with the prison itself: it constitutes, as it were, its programme."
"Prison ‘reform’ is virtually contemporary with the prison itself: it constitutes, as it were, its programme."
And, as @stschrader1 points out in his fantastic article about police demilitarization expanding policing:
"Police reform is not designed to help citizens. It is designed to help police."
"Police reform is not designed to help citizens. It is designed to help police."
Here’s a link to that article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0096144217705523
If you want to support abolitionist groups, here’s a few doing great work:
California California Coalition for Women Prisoners:
https://womenprisoners.org/donate-now/
Critical Resistance: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/criticalresistance?code=CR%20Year%20Round%20Page
The National Council: https://www.nationalcouncil.us/donation
California California Coalition for Women Prisoners:
https://womenprisoners.org/donate-now/
Critical Resistance: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/criticalresistance?code=CR%20Year%20Round%20Page
The National Council: https://www.nationalcouncil.us/donation
I’m hardly a Foucauldian, so that’s why I emphasized that it’s quoted by Angela Davis, who offers plenty of room for optimism (she has also criticized Discipline and Punish for not understanding racial violence). Those who aren’t organizers often give cynical readings.
