Angela Y. Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author whose work has profoundly influenced critical criminology, prison abolitionism, and Black feminist thought. She first gained international attention in the early 1970s as a member of the Communist Party USA and an associate of the Black Panther Party. Davis has taught at several universities, including the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a founding member of the organization Critical Resistance. Her activism and scholarship challenge systems of racial, gendered, and economic oppression, with a particular focus on dismantling the prison-industrial complex.
Davis is a central figure in abolitionist criminology, advocating for the elimination of prisons as a means of achieving social justice. She situates incarceration within broader structures of racial capitalism and patriarchy, arguing that reformist approaches are insufficient. Her work connects historical struggles, such as slavery and segregation, to contemporary forms of mass incarceration, emphasizing the need for systemic transformation.
