New Student Chapter Gender/Sexuality Event coming to you on April 24th!
Are we able to invent a world where security does not mean institutional and police violence and social isolation? What does the penal system have to do with feminism? Is it possible to talk about prisons from the point of view of intersectionality? We will try to find answers to these and other questions together at our upcoming event: “No Books Book Club: Abolitionist Feminism”.
The No Books Book Club series is Zuza Pawlowska’s original idea of an open non-hierarchical discussion focused on selected excerpts from texts, articles and visuals. Starting with a short presentation, Zuza will present the main aspects of abolitionist feminism so that we can start the conversation from a common point of reference.
In the collective imagination, prisons operate on the geographic and consciousness periphery; they are remote and hidden, far from the everyday life of most of us (Davis). At the same time, popular culture shapes the imaginary of the penal system (Prison Break, Orange is the New Black) in tandem with copaganda: popular series about hero cops ie: Brooklyn 99, in which officers save the world from evil and the penal system is fair.
A key point of the meeting will be to confront these images and discuss them in the context of abolitionist feminism, which combines a critique of the penal system with an intersectional approach to oppression. Its representatives, such as Angela Y. Davis, Mariame Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Andrea J. Ritchie, show that prisons do not solve the problem of violence against women and queer people. On the contrary: prisons are part of a system that reinforces, hides, and ignores this violence. Abolitionist feminists propose alternatives to the penal system that teach responsibility instead of punishment, propose an approach focused on caring, relationship repair and a community form of response to harm.
It’s going to be an extremely interesting discussion… We hope to see you there!⭐
Zuza Pawlowska is a sociology and anthropology student with a specialization in gender studies at UW. She holds an MA in Gender Studies and Law from SOAS University of London and previously studied British law. In her spare time, she teaches Polish at Fundacja Ocalenie. As an intersectional feminist, she is involved in anti-racism activism, the fight for abortion rights for all people with uteruses, refugee rights and a free Palestine, as well as other initiatives for equality and social justice.
Event language: Polish
April 24, 2025, 4:45 PM
Dobra 55, Room 1.271
Admission: Free
OZN: 3
