Abolition Labor
Description
Abolition Labor chronicles the national movement to end the exception in the 13th Amendment that permits forced labor in U.S. prisons. Based on extensive interviews (in New York, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia) with formerly incarcerated men and women, along with movement activists, the book also offers a holistic picture of what it looks like to perform forced work--for no pay or for penny wages-- behind bars.
Abolition Labor provides a wealth of insights into the vast underground economy where many prisoners have to hustle to survive, and the connection between these illicit activities and the precarious economy on the outside. Drawing on field interviews in Alabama, in particular, the authors describe the efforts behind the new prisoner rights movement that began with system-wide work strikes in the 2010s. The book argues that, far from being quarantined off from society, prisons and their forced work regime have a sizable impact on the employment market and the economic life of tens of millions of American households.
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Persons
Andrew Ross is a social activist and professor at NYU, where he teaches in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis and the Prison Education Program. A contributor to the Guardian, the New York Times, The Nation, and Al Jazeera, he is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including, most recently, Sunbelt Blues: The Failure of American Housing.
Tommaso Bardelli is currently the Director of Research and Popular Education at Worth Rises, an advocacy organization dedicated to dismantle the prison industry and protect and return the resources of those it touches. Before joining Worth Rises, Tommaso was a Senior Researcher at the NYU Prison Education Program Research Lab, a collaboration between faculty and formerly incarcerated students at NYU conducting research on the financial costs of mass incarceration.
Aiyuba Thomas is a recent MA Graduate from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Aiyuba's most current research is involved with labor and incarceration as well as incarceration disability studies.
