Are Prisons Obsolete?

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis is a nonfiction critical text, published in 2003, that advocates for prison abolition. Davis tracks the evolution of the penitentiary from its earliest introduction in America to the all-consuming prison industrial complex as it exists today. The author argues that incarceration is an ineffective system of justice; rather, it has become a lucrative industry. Davis, a lifelong activist, examines the structures of bias that uphold the prison system, using personal experience and academic analyses to reveal potential changes that could lead to a more empathetic justice system and a more equal society. The book is considered a foundational abolitionist text by antiprison activists.

Due to the subject matter of Are Prisons Obsolete?, this guide discusses difficult topics, including racial and gender-based violence.

This study guide follows the first edition paperback published by Seven Stories Press in 2003.

Plot Summary

Davis divides Are Prisons Obsolete? into six chapters, each dealing with a focused topic about the American prison system. The first chapter provides an overview of Davis’s concerns about rapid prison expansion and why she believes that prison reform is not enough to deal with the system’s engrained issues.