by New series: Abolition!
“Abolition is not simply about getting rid of the prisons, police or systems of surveillance and punishment, it is about what we build in their place. Abolition is about abolishing the conditions under which prison became the solution to problems, rather than abolishing the buildings we call prisons.” Ruth Wilson Gilmor
In this series we look at instruments of state and capitalist coercion: how might they be replaced with more co-operative and democratic structures?
Videos from these excellent sessions are available on our Youtube Channel here
Thursday March 10 – Police
Calls for the abolition of the police multiplied during the wave of protest that came with global awareness of Black Lives Matter, but it’s an idea with a long history. The meeting will be opened by Dr Toyin Agbetu, a scholar-activist, Pan Africanist, and lecturer in Social and Political Anthropology teaching on decoloniality, nationalism, ethnicity and race at the Department of Anthropology, University College London. “Abolishing the Police”, edited by Koschka Duff, brings together a number of writers to examine this idea.
Thursday March 17 – Money
Where does money come from? What purpose does it serve in capitalism? What would a society without money look like? Marxist economist Michael Roberts will introduce the discussion.
Thursday March 24 – The unwritten constitution
Mike Macnair (tutor in Law at St Hugh’s College, Oxford) will explain why socialists should fight for a proper ‘Bill of Rights’ – see an article on the subject here: https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1380/spin-traps-and-rights/
Thursday March 31 – Capitalism
We’re concluding our series with discussing the overarching problem we’re facing and how to overcome it. Speaker: Kevin Bean
Click on the link below to register for the series: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EL5W0TIvTCyBvH-OYWR8ig
