Abolitionist Feminism as Prisons Close: Fighting the Racist and Misogynist Surveillance “Child Welfare” System

• Author: Venezia Michalsen
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0032885519852091
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885519852091

The Prison Journal

2019, Vol. 99(4) 504 –511

© 2019 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/0032885519852091

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Article

Abolitionist Feminism

as Prisons Close:

Fighting the Racist and

Misogynist Surveillance

“Child Welfare” System

Venezia Michalsen1

Abstract

The global prison industrial complex was built on Black and brown women’s

bodies. This economy will not voluntarily loosen its hold on the bodies that

feed it. White carceral feminists traditionally encourage State punishment, while

anti-carceral, intersectional feminism recognizes that it empowers an ineffective

and racist system. In fact, it is built on the criminalization of women’s survival

strategies, creating a “victimization to prison pipeline.” But prisons are not the

root of the problem; rather, they are a manifestation of the over-policing of Black

women’s bodies, poverty, and motherhood. Such State surveillance will continue

unless we disrupt these powerful systems both inside and outside prisons.

Keywords

prison industrial complex, prison abolition, women of color

The Arc of the American Prison Industrial

Complex

The decarceration movement is slowly gaining momentum and supporters as

jurisdictions and politicians on both sides of the aisle realize incarceration’s

1Montclair State University, NJ, USA

Corresponding Author:

Venezia Michalsen, PhD, Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Montclair State University,

1 Normal Ave., Montclair, NJ 07043, USA.

Email: michalsenv@montclair.edu

852091TPJXXX10.1177/0032885519852091The Prison JournalMichalsen

research-article2019