We Make Our Own Justice

What if we did abolish police, courts, or prisons? Where would we turn for justice? Do we need to have laws? Punishment? These questions are not just the preoccupation of an abolitionist pipedream. Their answers exist already, if only we know where to look.

We Make Our Own Justice introduces the reader to communities around the world who are already resolving harms and conflicts themselves, without looking to the state or judiciary. The book explores a number of locations where alternative forms of justice, peace-keeping, and adjudication are taking place. With a particular focus on indigenous- and women-led movements from across Mexico, Argentina, Rojava, and the USA, Marina Sitrin looks at how each came to be, as well as the theoretical and political underpinnings of the process.

The book allows the reader to reflect on the ways in which the seeds of these alternative forms of justice and adjudication have been planted and nurtured over time—often over decades—and to consider the possibilities for other communities and regions to produce something similar. We Make Our Own Justice offers an invaluable resource as we seek to transform our neighbourhoods, groups, and communities into abolitionist spaces in theory and practice.