The democracy of abolition

In a series of interviews given shortly after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Angela Y. Davis analyzes how historical systems of oppression, such as slavery and lynching, continue to influence and undermine democracy today. Davis draws 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 privileges of other citizens. This denial of full rights and the creation of an American prison system emerged as a way 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. The work is accompanied by a foreword by Eduardo Mendieta, associate professor of philosophy at Stony Brook University.