Prison by Any Other Name - by Maya Schenwar & Victoria Law (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

With a new afterword from the authors, the critically praised indictment of widely embraced "alternatives to incarceration"

"But what does it mean--really--to celebrate reforms that convert your home into your prison?" --Michelle Alexander, from the foreword

Electronic monitoring. Locked-down drug treatment centers. House arrest. Mandated psychiatric treatment. Data driven surveillance. Extended probation. These are some of the key alternatives held up as cost effective substitutes for jails and prisons. But in a searing, "cogent critique" (Library Journal), Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law reveal that many of these so-called reforms actually weave in new strands of punishment and control, bringing new populations who would not otherwise have been subject to imprisonment under physical control by the state.

Whether readers are seasoned abolitionists or are newly interested in sensible alternatives to retrograde policing and criminal justice policies and approaches, this highly praised book offers "a wealth of critical insights" that will help readers "tread carefully through the dizzying terrain of a world turned upside down" and "make sense of what should take the place of mass incarceration" (The Brooklyn Rail).

With a foreword by Michelle Alexander, Prison by Any Other Name exposes how a kinder narrative of reform is effectively obscuring an agenda of social control, challenging us to question the ways we replicate the status quo when pursuing change, and offering a bolder vision for truly alternative justice practices.

Review Quotes

Praise for Prison by Any Other Name:
A 2021 Finalist for the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism

"Important reading for anyone involved in the criminal justice system."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A cogent critique. . . . Their impassioned yet evidence-based polemic exposes flaws in much of the perceived wisdom around the issue. Policy makers and criminal justice reform advocates should consider this bracing account a must-read."
--Publishers Weekly

"Necessary reading for any critic of mass incarceration seeking to understand the myriad policy alternatives and the path to lasting liberation."
--Library Journal

"Abolishing police and prisons requires imaginative solutions; Schenwar and Law present them in ways that will make readers rethink their understanding of the carceral system."
--Bitch

"Drawing on statistics, detailed research and personal anecdotes from people whose lives have been affected by incarceration, Prison by Any Other Name is both eye-opening and challenging. Encouraging readers to center the human lives caught in the broken, racist system in place today, this is crucial reading for anyone with a mind for justice."
--Shelf Awareness

"This is a book to be taken seriously by everyone who cares about what transformative justice might look like."
--Plough Quarterly

"Schenwar and Law have provided us with an accessible, comprehensive and exciting book about the perils of working towards criminal justice reform."
--Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

"In this timely work' Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law offer us exciting new perspectives that reveal abolition to be the most reasonable path toward a just future."
--Angela Y. Davis, author of Are Prisons Obsolete?

"A clear-eyed reality check. Essential reading for anyone who wants to know how all Americans can become more safe and more free."
--Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black

"Reminds us powerfully' soberingly, and unequivocally, that we simply can't end today's carceral crisis by calling for reforms that are still' fundamentally' punitive."
--Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water

"This powerful book is essential reading for everyone dedicated to building a society where prisons are obsolete."
--Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body and Shattered Bonds

"Grassroots organizing and policy demands will take inspiration and shape from these pages' which show how an insatiable system sucks time and money from individuals' households' and communities. The detailed stories about real people highlight abolition's poignant urgency."
--Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Golden Gulag

"A clear-eyed appraisal. Essential reading for anyone serious about ending mass incarceration."
--Dan Berger, author of Captive Nation

"Finally' a book that illustrates how carcerality has traveled far beyond the walls of confinement to spread punitive policies into the community spaces that at one time were part of the 'free world.' Schenwar and Law challenge us all to think more critically about what justice really looks like."
--Beth

About the Author