Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From plantation rebellion and Indigenous land theft to prison labor's super-exploitation, Walcott examines the relationship between policing and property.
That a man can lose his life for passing a fake $20 bill, when we know our economies are flush with fake money, says something damning about the way we've organized society. In On Property, Rinaldo Walcott contextualizes the significance of riots as part of social change by outlining a history of property damage as located in plantation rebellion, arguing that at the nexus of the current discourse on policing and violence is the unavoidable fact that criminal codes value property more than human life--and thus change isn't possible until we rethink the very idea of private property itself.
Synopsis
The next instalment in a new series of short nonfiction books modeled after 18th century political pamphlets--compare with Penguin's Great Idea series, but instead of reprints, these are original essays, 20,000 to 35,000 words, by contemporary writers and thinkers about contemporary issues. The SS21 titles respond specifically to the 2020 George Floyd protests and subsequent public discourse re: BLM On Property considers the relationship between policing and private property, arguing that law enforcement is the direct outcome of privately held assets and thus inextricable from a capitalist society: as long as people hold property, they will depend on police to protect it. Walcott is the Director of Women and Gender Studies Institute and an Associate Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education both at University of Toronto. His research is in the area of Black Diaspora Cultural Studies, gender and sexuality. "Written with a thoughtful tone and divided into three primary sections, this slim volume packs a punch without leaving readers fatigued. Walcott's main argument is that abolition is not possible without the elimination of our society's idea of property as we know it. He thoroughly explains how he came to this conclusion, taking readers on a historical field trip through slavery, policing, and uprisings around the world ... Our only hope? That which was made can be unmade, and that which was learned can be unlearned."--Mary Wahlmeier Bracciano, The Raven Bookstore (Lawrence, KS)Synopsis
Nominated for the Heritage Toronto Book Award - Longlisted for the Toronto Book Awards - A Globe and Mail Book of the Year - A CBC Books Best Canadian Nonfiction of 2021
From plantation rebellion to prison labour's super-exploitation, Walcott examines the relationship between policing and property.
That a man can lose his life for passing a fake $20 bill when we know our economies are flush with fake money says something damning about the way we've organized society. Yet the intensity of the calls to abolish the police after George Floyd's death surprised almost everyone. What, exactly, does abolition mean? How did we get here? And what does property have to do with it? In On Property, Rinaldo Walcott explores the long shadow cast by slavery's afterlife and shows how present-day abolitionists continue the work of their forebears in service of an imaginative, creative philosophy that ensures freedom and equality for all. Thoughtful, wide-ranging, compassionate, and profound, On Property makes an urgent plea for a new ethics of care.