The Abolitionist Magazine Archive 1979 - 1987
In January 1979 Radical Alternative to Prison (RAP) published the first edition of its journal The Abolitionist. Between 1979 and 1987 twenty-two editions of the Journal were published.
Radical Alternative to Prison (RAP) had been set up in 1970 and introduced into Britain an explicitly abolitionist perspective. From the beginning RAP sought to support prisoners and develop alliances with them. Throughout its history RAP worked closely with PROP, the prisoners’ rights group, and was involved in the establishment of a number of other radical groups that emerged in the 1980s including INQUEST, Women in Secure Hospitals (WISH) and Women in Prison, (WIP) groups that continue to operate today. This commitment to collaborative working is reflected in the content of The Abolitionist which provides insights in a range of the contributions of the various groups established during the 1980s.
RAP was committed to both the abolition of prison and to the development of alternatives. RAP’s initial vision was that prison was to be abolished along with the wider coercive and punitive system which it underpinned and in its place a series of community-based, non-coercive services were to be developed.
Abolitionist Futures is pleased to host this digital archive and will be releasing one edition on our website every few weeks, plus a brief commentary about each one. Our hope is that by posting these resources there will be opportunities to build from and reflect on the organising work that laid some of the groundwork for today’s abolitionist politics in Britain.
Index
The Abolitionist No. 1 (1979) – First issue
The Abolitionist No 2/3 (1979) – Bristol League Tables, Evident to May Enquiry
The Abolitionist No 4 (1980) – Buries alive, sex in prison, jury secrets
The Abolitionist No 5 (1980) – Black people & the Law, women in prison, drugs
The Abolitionist No 6 (1980) – Ten Years of RAP
The Abolitionist No 7 (1981) – Prison medicine
The Abolitionist No 8 (1981) – Sex offenders in prison
The Abolitionist No 9 (1981) – Radical Probation work
The Abolitionist No 10 (1982) – Dangerous people
The Abolitionist No 11 (1982) – Wormwood Scrubs: Home Office whitewash
The Abolitionist No 12 (1982) – Justice for victims
The Abolitionist No 13 (1983) – Death by lack of care
The Abolitionist No 14 (1983) –
The Abolitionist No 15 (1983) – Lifers
The Abolitionist No 16 (1984) – Decoding Leon Britain
The Abolitionist No 17 (1984) – RIP Prison Medical Service
Note on accessibility: Some of the scans are not high quality and may not be accessible via screen readers. This is because we do not have original copies of all the editions and are working from copies of copies. We are hoping to get originals in the future, so we can post better quality / screen-reader-friendly versions.