Abolitionism and the Possibility of Radical Futures? From a Politics of Fear and Exclusion to One of Care

The current struggles around borders reveal the level of contestation within society around the issue of migration. As many governments turn to populist politics and promise tighter border control, challenging long-standing successful achievements such as that of asylum, many activists engage with and reason around a more humanitarian approach, some actively pursuing abolitionist politics. What do we mean by abolitionism and what are its premises and promises? Can we imagine a collective future beyond the nation state, its criminal justice and border infrastructures? This seminar will examine the ideas within an abolitionist politics able to build caring communities.
 
Teresa Degenhardt is a criminologist and a fellow of the George Mitchell Institute for Global Peace Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. She works at the intersection between criminology and international relations. Teresa received the Emma Goldman Award by the Flax Foundation in 2023. Her book War as Protection and Punishment: Armed International Intervention at ‘The End of History’ was published by Routledge (2023).

Ayşe Çağlar, IWM Permanent Fellow, moderated the colloquium discussion.