Resisting Carceral Violence : Women's Imprisonment and the Politics of Abolition

This book explores the dramatic evolution of a feminist movement that mobilised to challenge a women's prison system in crisis. Through in-depth historical research conducted in the Australian state of Victoria that spans the 1980s and 1990s, the authors uncover how incarcerated women have worked productively with feminist activists and community coalitions to expose, critique and resist the conditions and harms of their confinement. Resisting Carceral Violence tells the story of how activists—through a combination of creative direct actions, reformist lobbying and legal challenges—forged an anti-carceral feminist movement that traversed the prison walls. This powerful history provides vital lessons for service providers, social justice advocates and campaigners, academics and students concerned with the violence of incarceration. It calls for a willingness to look beyond the prison and instead embrace creative solutions to broader structural inequalities and social harm. This book explores the dramatic evolution of a feminist movement that mobilised to challenge a women’s prison system in crisis. Through in-depth historical research conducted in the Australian state of Victoria that spans the 1980s and 1990s, the authors uncover how incarcerated women have worked productively with feminist activists and community coalitions to expose, critique and resist the conditions and harms of their confinement. __Resisting Carceral Violence__tells the story of how activists—through a combination of creative direct actions, reformist lobbying and legal challenges—forged an anti-carceral feminist movement that traversed the prison walls. This powerful history provides vital lessons for service providers, social justice advocates and campaigners, academics and students concerned with the violence of incarceration. It calls for a willingness to look beyond the prison and instead embrace creative solutions to broader structural inequalities and social harm. This book explores the dramatic evolution of a feminist movement that mobilised to challenge a women's prison system in crisis. Through in-depth historical research conducted in the Australian state of Victoria that spans the 1980s and 1990s, the authors uncover how incarcerated women have worked productively with feminist activists and community coalitions to expose, critique and resist the conditions and harms of their confinement. Resisting Carceral Violence tells the story of how activists, through a combination of creative direct actions, reformist lobbying and legal challenges, forged an anti-carceral feminist movement that traversed the prison walls. This powerful history provides vital lessons for service providers, social justice advocates and campaigners, academics and students concerned with the violence of incarceration. It calls for a willingness to look beyond the prison and instead embrace creative solutions to broader structural inequalities and social harm. Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 3-28 Resisting Carceral Violence from the Inside Out (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 29-67 Official Responses to Carceral Violence and the Limits of Reform (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 69-100 Front Matter ....Pages 101-101 Women Against Prison: Anti-carceral Feminist Critiques of the Prison (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 103-132 The Fairlea Wring Outs: Confronting the Prison Wall (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 133-168 The ‘Save Fairlea’ Vigil: Abolitionist Imaginings and Unexpected Outcomes (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 169-197 Front Matter ....Pages 199-199 The Privatisation Era (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 201-230 Conclusion (Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell)....Pages 231-255 Back Matter ....Pages 257-268