From Beccaria to #BlackLivesMatter: The Long Abolition Movement

Course hub for Spring 2026 offering of POLSCI B372-001 - The Long Abolition Movement

View the Project on GitHub k-kc/abolition

POLSCI B372-001: From Beccaria to #BlackLivesMatter

The Long Abolition Movement

Tu 1:10PM - 4:00PM Old Library 118 Professor: Kierstan Kaushal-Carter
Contact: kkc@brynmawr.edu Office Hours: Dalton 104, Thursdays 11:30-1:30


Announcements

No class today (3/24). Please complete the asynchornous assignment, “Why Prisons?” instead!

About This Course

This seminar traces the genealogy of prison abolition from the philosophical origins of the modern prison through contemporary movements to dismantle carceral systems. We examine how the prison emerged as a reform solution to social problems, then turn to three major abolition thinkers—Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and Mariame Kaba—and the intellectual traditions that inform their work. Through close reading and discussion, students learn to apply abolition frameworks to analyze contemporary carceral systems and imagine alternatives to incarceration.


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