Brick By Brick: How We Build a World Without Prisons

by Cradle Community

The fight for prison abolition is a struggle for collective liberation: a transformative vision of a safer world, in which communities live free from exploitation on a thriving planet.

Drawing connections across social justice movements with a shared abolitionist ethic, this revolutionary book illuminates how harmful ideas of criminality and punishment can manifest in many ways beyond the prison industrial complex. This work is a collaboration with friends, mentors and giants fighting for housing justice, food justice, climate justice, migrant justice, justice for survivors of violence, and more.

With this insightful and generous book, Cradle Community invites us to explore what it will take to dismantle structures of oppression, and to imagine the future we can rebuild together—brick by brick.

Cradle Community is a collective of organisers committed to radical education and building understanding of prison abolition and transformative justice. Brick by Brick is their first book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Social Justice, Social Issues

216 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2021

Reviews

[River Snowdrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great resource for abolitionists in the UK. Incredibly accessible and easy to digest. I also really appreciated the thought-provoking questions in the final section that encourage further engagement with abolition and inspire action.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We can’t get through this alone. Our community is not just for support; it’s who makes us laugh, who shares meals with us, who dances with us around the living room.

[Max Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very centered on Britain and the abolitionist movement there, so there are some aspects which I find hard to relate to being in the US. It is very comprehensive but equally lacking in nuance and depth, being very broad in its overview. Seems kind of prescriptive at times, not giving the full context but assuming that you understand in the argument. This is particularly true in the section "the dismantling." The section on "the building" is so clear and again comprehensive with lots of concrete examples of people experimenting and living the world we want to see in a particular context, that it makes up for any shortcomings of the previous section. Not only this section but the rest of the sections as well are so comprehensive of the interpersonal culture work of abolition and transformative justice more broadly in such a beautiful caring, gentle way.

[Lydia Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

everyone should read this! a really accessible and invaluable resource , so important

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

prisons are stinky!!!!

[Jeaic O Cuimin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not opposed to the idea per se, but I don’t think this book does a very good job making the case. I felt like a frustrated English teacher writing “how does this tie in??” In red pen in the margins.

While I think the people (!) who wrote it are very well-meaning and impassioned, I think we find a case study in why good books are not written by committee.

It’s supposed to be about abolitionism but ends up being a biggest hits of gripes-under-capitalism more than anything else. A lot of points are stated axiomatically, when the claim is very [citation needed], and leans very heavily on one-off anecdotes.

Not without merit, but it is not a persuasive case for anyone who doesn’t already agree.

[Eve Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I encourage everyone to read this book. There were times where I thought it may have been too exclamatory or too opinionated. But then I reflected and realised it was my own projections and close mindedness that was causing this. This book touches on almost every political issue and shines a new perspective that considers every individual. Half way through the book I was wondering when will they answer the question they have posed. And they do. A must read.

[Ju Canon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read in this dangerous society we live in. Community and intersectionalities awareness are needed to get us out of there. Abolition is an opportunity to learn and create a world for ALL.

[eve Grice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book with your people and talk about it! There's a lot to spend time with. And, helpfully, some really good lists of things to reflect on and discuss and do in the last section on Transforming Our World.

The whole work is a really useful text and I am so excited it exists. THANK YOU to the collective who wrote this. It is a gem. Broad in scope, and focussed on what is already happening to resist on so many fronts and levels, and how we can all find our place within it.

I was most excited about and inspired by the last two sections of the book (Transforming Our World and Free Them All)--which I slowed down to read more carefully because I was thinking in so many directions as I read--closely followed by the middle section of the book, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading them in isolation.

If you're already abolitionist, I would say:

read parts 1 and 2 to get a sense of how the collective/authors understand where we are and how we got here;

read parts 3 and 4 to learn about what has happened/is happening/still needs to happen on the ground, abolition in action, specifically in terms of groups, community, and collective action (especially London-based but also other UK-based and some Turtle Island/US-based groups and actions as well);

and read part 5 to ground yourself in how to approach the internal work of learning how to be with yourself and in relationship/community, and to navigate conflict and the work of repairing harm with abolitionist vision and values.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

An introductory text to abolitionist principles, great for those who are new to these ideas and looking to understand what abolition means. I see it as a handbook, guide, and manifesto in one.

They begin by outlining—“brick by brick”—the foundations of our systems and society, and how these systems cause harm. Then they outline—again, “brick by brick”—what we need in order to ameliorate these harms, and begin to build new systems.

The chapters are brief and easy to follow. The text is filled with examples of people, organizations, and movements that are actively engaging in this work, to illustrate how abolition is already in-progress. It is active response, not just theory. This is a UK-focused group and text, which gives a new perspective for me (a lot of abolitionist texts are US-centered; because…well, the state of US policing and prisons is unmatched).

I love finding books like this that I can truly recommend to anyone, because it’s really accessible in terms of language, ideas, and writing. You don’t have to be an academic, or familiar with abolitionist theory, in order to get something from this. If you ARE more familiar with abolition, you might find this too brief or lacking in terms of information (it is not a deep-dive, research-based text), but I think it’s worth the read anyways.

[Ella Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting, thought provoking and valuable book that takes the reader through the different areas of society that the criminal justice system infiltrates and the injustices that occur as a consequence. It's a very readable book, chunked into short, digestible and persuasive chapters.

The last few chapters were particularly valuable as they include prompts and questions to allow you to reflect on your understanding of accountability and justice, and how we can all be a part of a much less exploitative and more just transformative justice transformation.

[Aimee Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and very thought provoking. I’m actually giving a rating of 3.5 in total.

This book talks about a range of different issues within our society, all of which are very important to learn about. It’s hard not to feel sad or deflated when reading this book, as the content is really quite overwhelming and … real.

The layout is lovely, I really love the design and how there are 5 different categories/sections. The playlist is a nice touch and I enjoyed the quotes too.

Not sure I agree with everything that was said, but I’d happily recommend to others.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to review a book like this. It was challenging even though I think the vast majority of prisoners should be set free and that carceralism is rampant and a blight. I guess it's so hard to imagine a world like the one proposed in this book that part of me wanted to interrogate the idea to the point where I don't know if it became an intellectual exercise or more of a exercise to justify my already held views.
Glad I read it though and agree with a lot of it on first reading at any rate.

[Jonathan Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good primer on the arguments against using incarceration and how alternatives would better suit our communities.
Easy to read and easy to refer back to.
However, whilst I'm someone who agrees with the thesis of the book already, I don't think there's enough here to convince someone on the fence or against such liberation.

[Liam Pilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

this makes you want to organise :) such a good resource and not just if you live in the UK! So many good points and strategies that don’t leave you feeling hopeless. And it might seem like a small thing to write Turtle Island instead of North America, I want to see more people use it!

[Menelaos Tsikaras · Rating 4 out of 5]

A critique to the capitalist regime of the ongoing world. It provides factual knowledge on the prison industrial complex and how colonialism impacted the whole idea of it. It touches upon other topics which are very interesting. I totally recommend it.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to anti-capitalist movements and abolition in the UK

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Will write a review in a few days or smth

[Jesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

i come back to this every so often just because the ideas in it are so intriguing

[Renee Eshel · Rating 4 out of 5]

( custody read pt.5 ) such a clear / accessible & informative text ! this wud be sooo perf if you were knew to abolitionist ideas, soo good to get ur teef into xx