Mix of personal narratives and essays by people serving life or virtual life sentences envisioning a world without perpetual punishment. Many contributors (inside and free) lay out how we might integrate those convicted of serious harm back into communities, what true accountability could entail decades later, and how to shift from retribution to reconciliation.

Anthology of writings by political prisoners (Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Silvia Baraldini, and others) and about the history of U.S. political imprisonment. Highlights how incarcerated activists analyze the prison system and connect domestic repression to U.S. imperialism abroad. Provides crucial context on COINTELPRO and why abolitionists call to free all political prisoners. 

A classic (short) text where Davis connects the rise of prisons to racial capitalism—how the legacy of slavery, segregation, and capitalist exploitation necessitated new forms of racial control. She invites readers to imagine abolition by learning from past struggles (e.g., the end of slavery seemed “unthinkable” until it happened). Offers concrete examples of prison alternatives globally and is written in accessible language, perfect for study groups. — Free Online

Abstract: A seminal geography of incarceration’s boom in California, coining “abolition geography.” Gilmore examines how surplus land, labor, capital, and state capacity converged to drive prison expansion in the 80s–90s. Abstract: It provides the economic and racial context behind mass incarceration’s rise, giving abolitionists a structural understanding that our struggle must transform these underlying conditions (e.g., invest in rural economies, not prisons).

Abstract: 500-page free toolkit (2012, updated 2021) offering step-by-step guidance on intervening in domestic or sexual violence situations through community networks rather than the criminal legal system. It includes worksheets for safety planning, facilitator scripts for family meetings, and real scenarios. Indispensable for anyone wanting to practice immediate abolition in cases of harm — Free PDF on creative-interventions.org

Foundational text arguing that feminism, especially women of color feminism, has always been abolitionist (seeking to abolish slavery, prisons, gender violence). It presents case studies of women and TGNC folks criminalized for surviving violence and outlines feminist strategies (mutual support, transformative justice) to dismantle carceral systems. — Available on HaymarketBooks