Session 4: Policing, Borders, Anti-Racism & Abolition
Core Readings (v. 2026):
Audio versions available on Soundcloud
Defund the Police [Video by Project NIA] [4 min]
Adam Elliot-Cooper (2021) Excerpt from Chapter 6: Futures of Black resistance: disruption, rebellion, abolition. Black Resistance to British Policing. Manchester University Press, p.172—183. [12 pages]
![Sarah Uncles (2020) The slow pace of urgent change to prevent deaths in police custody. Open Democracy. [7 pages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35a537763e8d15ff28a167/1640970697174-CFIALXNRMD3J42JLHZOI/A_ANGIOLINI.jpg)
Sarah Uncles (2020) The slow pace of urgent change to prevent deaths in police custody. Open Democracy. [7 pages]
Mediocre Dave (2021) Policing by Consent Abolitionist Futures. [8 pages]
Bradley, G. M., & De Noronha, L. (2022) Against borders: The case for abolition. Chapter 8: Abolition. [16 pages]
Further reading:
If you’re joining an Abolitionist Futures reading group for the second time, we recommend you read some of these instead of the core readings.
Critical Resistance (2020) Abolition of Policing Workshop CriticalResistance.org
Andrea Ritchie, Mariame Kaba and Wood Ervin (2020) Defund the Police Toolkit, Interrupting Criminalisation (24 pages)
Mariame Kaba (2020) - Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police. New York Times 12 June 2020 (2 pages)
![Gargi Bhattacharyya et al (2021) Chapter 2: Knife Crime, Prevention and Order, Empire’s Endgame: Racism and the British State. Pluto Press. [10 pages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35a537763e8d15ff28a167/1640974276263-S1H8BDK1WXKXN0AVNIVF/Empires-Endgame-comp-50.JPG)
Gargi Bhattacharyya et al (2021) Chapter 2: Knife Crime, Prevention and Order, Empire’s Endgame: Racism and the British State. Pluto Press. [10 pages]
John Moore (2021) Protecting the property of slavers: London’s first state funded police force. AbolitionistFutures.com
UK Black Lives Matter (2021) Our Platform ukblm.org
Abolitionist Futures (2021) Cops in Culture Series
McElhone, M., Kemp, T., Lamble, S. & Moore, J.M. (2023) Defund – not defend – the police: A response to Fleetwood and Lea. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 62, 277–282.
Alex Vitale (2020) The answer to police violence is not reform: Its defunding. Here’s Why. [3 pages]
![Connor Woodman (2020) Why do the police exist? Novara Media [5 pages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e35a537763e8d15ff28a167/1640974874246-TNLDFFKY535IDVIMK23E/novara-police-woodman.jpg)
Connor Woodman (2020) Why do the police exist? Novara Media [5 pages]
Remi Joseph-Salisbury and Laura Connelly (2019) Diversifying the police won’t end institutional racism. Red Pepper Magazine.
Koshka Duff and Tom Kemp (2020) Would ‘Defund the Police’ Work in the UK? NovaraMedia.com
Fuggle S. (2019) ‘A future without prisons: From economics to ecologies of incarceration’
Megan McElhone (2021) Knife Crime Prevention Orders: Punitive, not preventative. AbolitionistFutures.com
David Whitehouse (2014) Origins of the police. libcom.org
John Moore (2024) A brief history of the British police (Part 1 - Up to 1800). AbolitionistFutures
Lauren O’Neill (2020) What would happen if we defunded the police? Vice.com
Andrea Ritchie, Mariame Kaba and Woods Ervin (2020) Defund the Police Toolkit. InterruptingCriminalisation.com (24 pages)
Alex S Vitale (2017) The Myth of Liberal Policing The New Inquiry.
Racial Capitalism and Prison Abolition (2020) Illustrated Zine.
Koshka Duff & Cat Sims (2021) Abolishing the Police (An Illustrated Guide).
MPD150 (2020) 10 actions ideas for building a police-free-future
Ida Danewid (2023) Resisting racial capitalism: An antipolitical theory of refusal. Chapter