The democracy of abolition

Abolition Democracy brings together a series of interviews given by Angela Y. Davis shortly after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, in which the renowned activist analyzes how historical systems of oppression such as slavery and lynching continue to influence and undermine democracy today.

In her accounts, Angela Davis, one of America's most brilliant political figures, addresses law and resistance, institutionalized harassment, and the relationship between politics and prison. Davis discusses her own incarceration, her experience as an "enemy of the state," and her time on the FBI's "most wanted" list. The author emphasizes the crucial role that international activism played in her case and that of many other political prisoners.

Davis builds on W.E.B. Du Bois's thesis that, when Black people were freed from slavery in the United States, they were denied the full rights of other citizens. In addition, the American prison system (which now has the largest prison population in the world) operates to maintain dominance and control over entire populations. Davis explores the notion of "abolition democracy" as the democracy to come, a set of social relations free from oppression and injustice.