The moving targets of penal abolitionism: ICOPA, past, present and future

Abstract

The history of the International Conference on Penal Abolition (ICOPA) is explored, assessing major trends shaping the current growth of carceral practices and offering suggestions for the future of the conference movement. The goal here is to facilitate the expansion of abolitionism by describing the changing nature of what is to be abolished. A discussion of the emergence of prison abolitionism and of the ICOPA is presented, describing the shift in focus from prison to penal abolition. Taking these developments and character into account, an abolitionist gaze must be expanded to reflect a carceral abolition project, encompassing contemporary penal abolitionism while acknowledging the proliferation of carceral practices and spaces outside the traditional penal system.

Keywords:

• prison abolition
• penal abolition
• carceral abolition
• ICOPA

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Bob Gaucher, Kevin Walby and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous drafts of this article.