Scholarship@WashULaw
Book Review: The Idea of Prison Abolition
Document Type
Book Review
Language
English (en)
Publication Date
2024
Publication Title
Criminal Law & Criminal Justice Books
Abstract
Tommie Shelby’s The Idea of Prison Abolition is the rare success that manages to balance intellectual depth with accessibility to a larger audience. The book is ambitious in its attempts to address the general ideas of prison abolition, most notably by focusing on the work of the preeminent philosopher and activist Angela Davis. What results is a careful and reasoned acknowledgement of the contributions of abolitionist thought, albeit with a respectful set of critiques that cut to the core of Davis’s framework and the broader abolitionist movement. This review seeks to give Shelby the same respect he has given to others like Davis, by respectfully engaging with his work.
Keywords
Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Prison Abolition
Publication Citation
Sheldon A. Evans, Book Review, Crim. L. & Crim. Justice Books, https://clcjbooks.rutgers.edu/books/the-idea-of-prison-abolition/ (2024) (reviewing Tommie Shelby, The Idea of Prison Abolition (2022))
Repository Citation
Evans, Sheldon, "Book Review: The Idea of Prison Abolition" (2024). Scholarship@WashULaw. 941.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholarship/941