Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Violence and the Prison Nation
01 May 2013
🖨️ Print Article

By Against the Grain Radio

If the problem is violence against women, is the solution the criminal justice system? Many anti-violence activists look to the police, prisons, and stepped-up criminalization for help and protection.  Beth Richie says that's a misguided approach, one that feeds the buildup of the prison nation. Richie describes the contours of the prison nation and the threats it poses to women on the margins.

Beth Richie is a professor of Criminal Justice and Gender and Womens Studies at the University of Illinois, and a leader in the movement to abolish prisons and roll back the prison state.


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change
    11 Mar 2026
    Dan Kovalik and Jeremy Kuzmarov’s Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change was published on September 1, 2025. What can it teach us now that the empire has pulled the trigger on three more nations…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Everything they touch turns to rubble
    11 Mar 2026
    "Everything they touch turns to rubble" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Pan-African Community Action
    COMMUNITY CONTROL DC: A People’s Platform for Collective Self-Determination
    11 Mar 2026
    While Washington DC's political leadership changes, Pan-African Community Action (PACA) is organizing to ensure that Black communities are empowered in decision making processes.
  • Lindy Drolsum
    Prison System in Tennessee: A Cycle of Racism and Control
    11 Mar 2026
    Tennessee's claim of being "tough on crime" means racialized policing and incarceration, and profit making off of marginalized people.
  • Boycott the world cup
    Black Alliance For Peace
    100 Days From the World Cup, an International Coalition is Calling on FIFA to Move the Games From the U.S.
    11 Mar 2026
    The US has disqualified itself from hosting the World Cup through wars, genocide, and domestic repression.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us