Notes on abolition geography as method: the everyday life of social movements and the politics of scale

Keywords: Abolition, black geographies, community-engaged scholarship, racial capitalism, social movement
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Abolition geography, as introduced by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, is a way of study situated within a context of relationship building, social movement, and reimagined ways of being in the world. In this paper, I elaborate on abolition geography as method through a discussion of an ongoing community-based research project in Sacramento, California. This project considers how racial capitalism is entrenched in urban landscapes and how abolition produces alternative arrangements. Through a discussion of the methodology of this project, both in practice and in retrospect, I elaborate on Gilmore’s framework of abolition geography as method. I find the practice of abolition geography to necessitate (1) building theory through participation in social movement, (2) finding abolitionist possibilities in everyday life, (3) taking affect seriously, and (4) revealing power structures behind familiar categories of social life and scale. I conclude with a discussion of how this framework can inform work in coalitions among academics, community organizers, planners, and policymakers inspired by contemporary abolition movements who aim to create city spaces in which life can thrive.