From carceral feminism to transformative justice: Women-of-color feminism and alternatives to incarceration

ABSTRACT

Racial injustice at the intersections of interpersonal and state violence sets the stage for this examination of mainstream responses to domestic and sexual violence. At one end of this continuum is carceral feminism, a term signaling feminist reliance upon law enforcement as a dominant intervention strategy. At the other end is a growing tide of responses to gender violence alternative to criminalization, largely led by people of color. These restorative and transformative justice interventions offer new anti-violence options. They also prompt a re-imagining of the role of social work in relationship to social justice and social movements.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• carceral feminism
• restorative justice
• transformative justice
• intersectionality

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the creative and collective spirits who have preceded us, join with us, and are yet to lead the journey toward liberation, with special heartfelt thanks to INCITE! Women, Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Against Violence.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Research on Social Change, University of California, Berkeley and the University of California Center for New Racial Studies.