With a new afterword from the authors, the critically praised indictment of widely embraced “alternatives to incarceration”
“But what does it mean—really—to celebrate reforms that convert your home into your prison?” —Michelle Alexander, from the forewordElectronic monitoring. Locked-down drug treatment centers. House arrest. Mandated psychiatric treatment. Data driven surveillance. Extended probation. These are some of the key alternatives held up as cost effective substitutes for jails and prisons. But in a searing, “cogent critique” (Library Journal), Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law reveal that many of these so-called reforms actually weave in new strands of punishment and control, bringing new populations who would not otherwise have been subject to imprisonment under physical control by the state.
Whether readers are seasoned abolitionists or are newly interested in sensible alternatives to retrograde policing and criminal justice policies and approaches, this highly praised book offers “a wealth of critical insights” that will help readers “tread carefully through the dizzying terrain of a world turned upside down” and “make sense of what should take the place of mass incarceration” (The Brooklyn Rail).
With a foreword by Michelle Alexander, Prison by Any Other Name exposes how a kinder narrative of reform is effectively obscuring an agenda of social control, challenging us to question the ways we replicate the status quo when pursuing change, and offering a bolder vision for truly alternative justice practices.
Your NEW Community Urban Bookstore
3008 Greenmount Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21218
443.552.1094
Tues-Saturday 11am-6pm
Sunday 12pm-5pm
Closed Monday's
Please Donate in support of our efforts to ship DONATED books to incarcerated individuals

Prison Shipping Avail
$17.99Price