Digital collectives in the carceral era

Introducing Abolition Now

Bibliographic Data

ID12664267
AuthorsMichelle Brown (0000-0001-7838-7696, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, corresponding author), Vivian Swayne (0009-0004-2568-9892, University of Tennessee at Knoxville), Joshua Ortiz Baco (0000-0002-9723-4262, University of Tennessee at Knoxville), M C Jordan (0009-0004-2706-1353, Northwestern University)
Year2025
Volume28
Issue2
Pages474-489
Publication date2025-11-03
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePunishment & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1462-4745 • E-ISSN: 1741-3095
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14624745251391306
OpenAlexW4415819470
LanguageEN
References cited23

This essay critically examines the growing role of digital collectives and collections in the current carceral era, emphasizing the transformative potential of community-driven digital scholarship and participatory research in the study of punishment and abolitionist movements. Through an introduction of Abolition Now: Images for Study and Struggle (AN) and related initiatives, the authors highlight how digital archives and artistic collaborations serve as countervisual spaces that disrupt dominant carceral narratives, foster critical popular engagement, and generate new forms of knowledge. We also advocate for a redefinition of academic deliverables beyond traditional metrics, centering collaborative, ethical, and post-custodial data practices that empower communities most impacted by mass incarceration. AN situates abolitionist imagery as central to envisioning alternative futures, mapping the proliferation of movement art across social and political crises, and underscores the importance of critical metadata and participatory infrastructure in sustaining digital abolitionist scholarship in university and popular education spaces

Abolitionism · Citizen journalism · Digital scholarship · Metadata · Participatory action research · Participatory culture · Politics · Scholarship · Transformative learning · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Critical Race Theory in Education · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism

Tools

Open DOI