ABSTRACT
In this chapter we analyze the intersection between the prison abolitionism movement in the academic field of criminology and critical race theory in the U.S. context. We claim that this intersection has provided prison abolitionism in the U.S. with a granular and grounded understanding of racism and white supremacy as specific systems of oppression, which has allowed the movement to expand beyond the classic European tenets of prison abolitionism. We argue that for prison abolitionism to come out of its inertia and marginal position, scholars in the field of criminology across the world need to produce situated knowledge that focuses on specific systems of oppression and on the historical and social context that underlies and supports these systems.
