from May 6 to May 8, 2023

Abolitions

at the University of California Washington Center

Abolitions Conference at UCDC

Organized by Tanya Golash-Boza and Whitney Pirtle.

Sponsored by The University of California Washington Center, the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, UC Merced, and Howard University's Center for Urban Progress.

Click here for the virtual program and to access recorded sessions

The abolitionist movement began with calls to abolish chattel slavery in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, philosophers called for the abolition of the wage system. In the twentieth century, abolitionists called for the abolition of the death penalty and prisons. More recently, the call for abolition has expanded to demand the abolition of police, family policing (also known as Child and Protective Services), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Still others call for the abolition of universities, of the family, of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), of the military, of capitalism, of the state, and of borders. The Abolitions conference will bring abolitionist voices together across multiple institutions to make sense of what abolition means today and how we can work together to create a future where we want to live and thrive.

Day 1

We will begin with a keynote address by Dorothy Roberts and dinner on May 6.

Day 2

May 7 will include speakers on the theme of Abolitions as well as lunch and dinner keynotes by Charisse Burden-Stelly and Dylan Rodriguez.

Day 3

On our final day, we will gather for workshops and to discuss what comes next after abolition.

We invite proposals from abolitionists everywhere. Please submit a 250-word abstract that outlines what you will argue should be abolished and briefly explain how you will make your case. Proposals are for 15 minute presentations as well as interactive workshops.

The conference has now passed, but you can access the recorded sessions in the virtual program.

This mini-conference will be held in downtown DC at the University of California Washington Center. All speakers will be offered free housing in the Washington Center. We also will offer $500 travel stipends for speakers who do not have funding to attend the conference, subject to funding availability.