Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms

Michelle Alexander (Foreword)

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Book cover for Prison by Any Other Name

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With a new afterword from the authors, the critically praised indictment of widely embraced “alternatives to incarceration”

“But what does it mean—really—to celebrate reforms that convert your home into your prison?” —Michelle Alexander, from the foreword

Electronic monitoring. Locked-down drug treatment centers. House arrest. Mandated psychiatric treatment. Data driven surveillance. Extended probation. These are some of the key alternatives held up as cost effective substitutes for jails and prisons. But in a searing, “cogent critique” (Library Journal), Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law reveal that many of these so-called reforms actually weave in new strands of punishment and control, bringing new populations who would not otherwise have been subject to imprisonment under physical control by the state.

Whether readers are seasoned abolitionists or are newly interested in sensible alternatives to retrograde policing and criminal justice policies and approaches, this highly praised book offers “a wealth of critical insights” that will help readers “tread carefully through the dizzying terrain of a world turned upside down” and “make sense of what should take the place of mass incarceration” (The Brooklyn Rail).

With a foreword by Michelle Alexander, Prison by Any Other Name exposes how a kinder narrative of reform is effectively obscuring an agenda of social control, challenging us to question the ways we replicate the status quo when pursuing change, and offering a bolder vision for truly alternative justice practices.

  • ISBN10 1620976978
  • ISBN13 9781620976975
  • Publish Date 21 October 2021
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint The New Press
  • Format Paperback (US Trade)
  • Pages 336
  • Language English