May I ask someone here, if they are educated on the topic, what exactly prison abolition entails? I’d it seems like an odd question it’s because I’m not sure if I’m mischarecteruzing my understanding of it by projecting my understanding of the abolition of slavery in the US onto it.

What I mean is that, abolitionist wasn’t just an anti-slavery position, such as being in favor of compensated emancipation over a gradual period of time, instead arguing for the immediate uncompensated emancipation of all enslaved people. So essentially my confusion is, does that still apply to prison abolishinist perspectives?

Is it the call for the immediate emancipation of all imprisoned persons and shuttering of those facilities, or does it include those calling for a more gradual dismantling of the prison system? I’m not talking about those who argue that prisons should be restructured into being more rehabilitative when I say gradual. I mean a position that aims to restructure economic and social life so that it removes the material incentives that lead to criminality, alongside the decoupling of the greater economy’s reliance on prison slave labor.

Apologies if this question is too US centric, or needlessly pedantic about terminology, but I’m genuinely ignorant on the precise position of prison abolitionist, and I’d like to rectify that.

Better to sound like a fool once and learn then to portray myself as wise while stewing in ignorance for the foreseeable future.