New Bones: Abolitionism and the Captive Maternal

New Bones Abolition explores the "Captive Maternal," a concept that arises from legacies of colonialism, chattel slavery, and predatory policing, to examine the stages of resistance and communal rebellion that manifest through war resistance. It honors Agape-driven communities and organizers that deter state/police predatory violence through love, caretaking, protest, movements, marronage, and war resistance.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 23 November 2023
Publisher: Common Notions

New Bones Abolition is a powerful and thought-provoking book that addresses those of us who have been broken enough to grow new bones, in order to stabilize our political traditions that renew freedom struggles. Reflecting on a range of topics such as police violence, political movements, Black feminism, Erica Garner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, caretakers and compradors, and Joy James analyzes the "Captive Maternal," which emerges from legacies of colonialism, chattel slavery, and predatory policing. Through this analysis, James explores the stages of resistance and communal rebellion that manifest through war resistance.

She recognizes a long line of gendered and ungendered freedom fighters who, within a racialized and economically stratified democracy, transform from coerced or conflicted caretakers into builders of movements, who realize the necessity of maroon spaces and ultimately the inevitability of becoming war resisters that mobilize against genocide and state violence.

New Bones Abolition weaves a narrative of a historically complex and engaged people seeking to quell state violence. James discusses the contributions of many individuals and movements, including the mother Mamie Till-Mobley, who held a 1955 open-casket funeral for her fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, murdered by white nationalists; the 1971 rebels at Attica prison; the resilience of political prisoners despite the surplus torture they endured; the emergence of Black feminists as political theorists; human rights advocates seeking abolition; and the radical intellectualism of Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner slain in 2014 by the NYPD.

James positions the Captive Maternal within the evolution of contemporary abolition. Her meditation on and theorizing of Black radicals and revolutionaries works to honor Agape-driven communities and organizers that deter state/police predatory violence through love, caretaking, protest, movements, marronage, and war resisters.

Overall, New Bones Abolition is a must-read for anyone who is committed to building a more just and equitable world. It offers a powerful analysis of the challenges we face and provides a roadmap for resistance and transformation.

Dimension: 215 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781942173748