We Can Build a Different World was a weekly panel series throughout September 2020 exploring abolition and mutual aid in the UK. This panel series brought together activists, organisers, academics, artists, thinkers, and speakers for a weekly discussion event exploring abolition and mutual aid in the UK. We approached these sometimes difficult conversations with joy and warmth. We wished to celebrate our collective knowledge, indulge our curiosity, and to come together in a spirit of sharing and collaboration.

This series was programmed by Elio Beale and organised as a collaboration between Decriminalised Futures, Abolitionist Futures and Verso, with support from Arika.

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“Abolition is building the future from the present, in all of the ways we can” - Ruthie Wilson Gilmore.

The first panel in this series looks at abolition movements in the UK, and how we might meet but also go beyond the powerful calls to defund the police and close prisons.

The worlds we wish to live in already exist: we can see them in our minds, we can taste them on our tongues. Through mutual aid, solidarity, care and imagination we translate these dreams into vivid realities. Whether it be flamboyant acts of resistance or small, daily gestures of affection, our collective struggle builds our collective power. We can realise our hopes and visions and plans. We can remember where we’ve come from. We can build a different world.

Over the summer, scores of protestors and organisers made it clear: the UK is not innocent. What then, does justice look like here – and what does abolition mean for the UK?

Spanning the work of organisations and campaigns against criminalisation, racism, border violence, gender, prisons and other carceral institutions – we looked at what networks and collective histories we can draw lessons from in forging abolitionist paths. We talked through movement challenges, how wider systems of violence are enforced and what it is that makes abolition so essential.

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CONTRIBUTORS:

• Sita Balani, a lecturer in contemporary literature and culture whose work explores the relationship between imperialism and identity in contemporary Britain;

• Farheen Ahmed, public / immigration law caseworker and member of Legal Sector Workers United trade union;

• Amal, an anti-psychiatry and prison abolitionist community organiser who works with the Prisoner Solidarity Network (PSN) and Queercare;

• and Harry Josephine Giles, a writer and performer who makes “art about protest and protest about art”.

• Chaired by Josh Virasami, an artist, writer and political organiser involved in movements such as UK Black Lives Matter and London Renters Union.

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TRANSCRIPT

This panel does not currently have a transcript. We will be updating this section of the website with a completed transcript soon.